A Different Kind of Hunter
by A Fan1204
Summary: A fit of rage and a blinding light left Naruto in a brand new world with monsters known as Grimm and strange people that used every weapon known to man that doubled as a gun. Slight AU for the 4th ninja war, explained throughout the story.
1. A Grimm Reality

**Here we go with another story. I know I was gone for a loooooong time and I probably lost a lot of followers for that and I certainly deserve it. There were lots of reasons for my absence but the idea for this story came to me after I became pretty disenchanted with anime and fanfiction in general. Then I stumbled upon RWBY and I binged the entire series in two days. Then this idea of a story came to me about halfway through the series and I just had to write. RWBY without a doubt has inspired me to work on my fanfictions again and the fire is now back. Both my other stories are about halfway done with the next chapter and another story is like 1/3 of the way done for the intro. After a long time, I'm back!**

 **Disclaimer: Rights for the two series go to Kishimoto and the late Monty Oum, rest in peace and thank you for the great series you started and that Rooster Teeth are finishing.**

 **(PS: The soundtrack for RWBY is amazing, probably one of my favorite things about the series.)**

* * *

A Different Kind of Hunter

 **Chapter 1: A Grimm Reality**

 _(Vale Airspace)_

"Ozpin, are you sure this is a good use of our time? We have the initiation of this year's new students to prepare for. We only have a few weeks before they arrive."

The man in question, a middle aged man with a mess of gray hair, green tinted glasses, and was wearing a black suit with a green undershirt, took his eyes off of the path in front of him and looked at the woman seated to his left. She was a woman in her late 20's with fair skin and light blonde hair. Her outfit consisted of a white blouse and a black dress that stopped just below her bust as well as a purple cape that fluttered behind her.

"Glynda, the preparations are nearly complete for the initiation, all that remains is to wait for our bright eyed students to arrive." Usually the man's demeanor was on the side of playfully upbeat but being the leader of Vale's most prestigious hunter/huntress training school wasn't for nothing, he could turn serious at the drop of a hat and the man that had decades of experience on the battle field would come to the forefront.

Now was one of those times as the happy tone vanished and a more somber tone came from the level headed man's voice. "And you saw what was in James's report. The details are… concerning to say the least."

Glynda scoffed at the mention of their 'friend'. James Ironwood was a man that Glynda just found off putting. The Headmaster of the Atlas school of hunters/huntresses was a very straightforward man that spoke his mind on most matters. Being the General of Atlas's military force as well as the Headmaster of one of the four kingdom's top schools gave him just about as much pull through global powers as one could imagine. But even with all of his notoriety he still often requested the council of Vale's Headmaster Ozpin. It was a combination of respect that Ironwood held for Ozpin's knowledge and wisdom as well as experience that made Ironwood consult Ozpin. Another factor could be because of the fact that they were at peace after a historically long and bloody war. It would not do that peace justice for a foreign military power to operate within the borders of another sovereign nation.

The problem that Glynda had with Ironwood was not his motivation, she never doubted his intentions in the slightest. It was his methods she hated. He was a military commander at heart, to him there wasn't a problem that he couldn't solve through the use of his military might. Unfortunately, not every problem could be solved through the use of force. "I read the report. I'm still surprised he didn't send in his new mechanized army to completely level the area and be done with it."

A soft patronizing sound came from Ozpin as he chided Glynda for her personal feelings overcoming her rational judgments. "Now, now Glynda. Despite your personal dislike of James, he isn't the brute you make him out to be. He understands that something as strange as this must be handled carefully. And it's not like he could send in an armed force to level the Northern Vale Forest, even if he might want to."

Glynda let out a sigh as a way to concede Ozpin's point. He was right, like he always was. Still, the report was frightening. An explosion large enough to be picked up from a patrolling aircraft from Atlas could only be caused by a ridiculous amount of dust being activated all at once. But since the area was devoid of human life or even mining operations such a thing should not have been possible. Even more disturbing was the noted mass migration of Grimm to the location of the reported explosion. Over one thousand Grimm had converged at that spot in the short 24 hours that had expired. Such an activity was rare among Grimm and warranted investigation.

"What do you suppose is the cause of all this commotion Ozpin?"

Ozpin went back to staring out the window of the aircraft he was piloting as he narrowed his eyes on the forest they were sent out to investigate. "In all my years I've never seen a series of events such as this. I haven't a clue what is going on. I pray it isn't as bad as James believes it to be."

* * *

 _(Northern Vale Forest)_

Naruto cursed to himself as he back flipped to narrowly avoid the razor sharp claws of the black humanoid wolf that had lunged at him. Bringing his foot up higher than needed to complete the motion, the top of his foot connected with the underside of the creature's jaw and it quickly crumbled over and died from the force of the strike. Naruto only took a spare second to make sure the monster's body began dissolving into nothingness, the only sign that he had seen that showed the creature was dead.

Naruto moved onto the next target that threw itself at him, either unware of his fellow monster's swift death or simply not caring. Letting his anger guide his movements, Naruto spun on his heel and brought his fist down on the top of the creature's skull, caving it in and dropping the black beast in one fell swoop.

Naruto grunted as he felt the comforting power of nature leave his system once again, his eyes reverting to ocean blue from the golden toad eyes that signified his mastery over nature. The exhaustion hit him all at once and Naruto dropped to one knee as he took deep breathes. Looking around himself, he was still surrounded. These monsters, there was no end to them. Giant black bears, wolf like creatures, massive boars, even the birds had the black feathers with bone white armor covering certain spots. They were relentless in their pursuit for him and it didn't matter how many of them he killed they just kept coming, it was almost as if they were mindless.

In the beginning Naruto was more than happy with killing these monsters. They attacked him and he was angry, so very angry. His rage had blinded him in the beginning and he blew through countless creatures after quickly realizing he had to put them down for good to get them to stop coming after him. As a result he had gone a bit overpower and spent too much chakra overkilling many of the weaker monsters.

After killing a few hundred his rage was replaced with a cautious weariness. He had killed so many yet they just kept coming, they were truly endless. Not even the Zetsu army was endless in the way these creatures seemed to be, and he had killed more than his fair share of the Zetsus during the war.

Naruto took a deep breath as the familiar power of nature returned to him, small though it may be. Within the span of two seconds Naruto lashed out with a flurry of punches and kicks, each one fatal to the ten wolf like creatures that lunged at him at once. The creatures never came close to him as his natural attacking range was dramatically increased due to the natural enhancement.

This time Naruto dropped to both knees and took gasping breathes and had to close his left eye as a wound above his left eye reopened and began to gush blood. He had only gathered enough nature chakra for one short burst of power before he ran out again. The relentless nature of these monsters proving to be far more effective in battle than almost any foe he had fought before.

A part of him wanted to laugh. He had fought some of the most powerful people from his world. S-rank shinobi that had the power to level entire cities at a whim and he had come out the better for each encounter. Now he was going to be overwhelmed by a seemingly endless supply of mindless monsters that only wanted to kill him. Of course it didn't help that he was thrown into this entire mess during a battle with one of the most powerful shinobi alive.

Going from that into a twenty four hour gauntlet of none stop fighting for his life burned away his seemingly limitless supply of energy and chakra. For the first time in his life, he literally had nothing left to give.

Naruto saw a few of the large bear monsters push the wolves out of the way as the shambled over to him, stalking the wounded prey as they moved in for the kill.

Naruto was about to try and force his body into movement once more but was stopped by a large circular sealing array that appeared directly beneath him. The next thing he knew the earth around him lifted up and formed a protective barrier. Now blind, Naruto could do nothing but listen as the monsters seemed to turn their attention to something else.

The sounds of battle echoed throughout the clearing followed by the screeches of the monsters as they were slain one by one. A few minutes passed before the wall that had protected and blinded him fell to the wayside revealing a pair of humans, a rarity for Naruto to see in this strange place that he had been thrust into.

A rather tall and stunning woman with a riding crop in her hand and a no nonsense look on her face surveyed the field for any more potential foes. Next to her was a man that was slightly taller than the woman next to him. His attention was fully focused on Naruto however and he had a smile on his face. Naruto watched as the man started walking towards him. He was saying something, that Naruto knew but he couldn't make it out as his vision started to swim. The next thing he knew he was falling face first towards the ground as his body finally gave out.

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy)_

Ozpin looked through the window of the medical wing at the young blond fellow they had found in the middle of the commotion at the forest. He still had no idea what happened to cause the event but he was sure that the boy was the key to understanding. It was precisely the reason he had called a meeting of some of his most trusted professors at Beacon Academy.

Ozpin turned away from the window and walked back to the round table that had been set up. He took his seat next to Glynda who had an unreadable expression on her face.

To his left sat a rather tall and plump man in his later years. He wore a brown/burgundy military uniform with black pants. He had a thick moustache and eyebrows and hair that was combed to the both sides from the top of his head, all grayed with his age.

Across the table from Ozpin sat a slender man with dirty green hair and pale skin. He had a very professor like appearance while wearing a button up white shirt, a loose blue tie around his neck and black dress pants. His eyes were covered by a pair of glasses that gave off a remarkable glare if light hit them at the right angle. He cradled a thermos in his hand that he often took quick sips from as he waited for the meeting to begin.

Ozpin put on a pleasant smile as he took his seat and greeted the two professors. "Thank you both for dropping your preparations so quickly to meet here. We have a situation that needs to be addressed immediately."

The larger man spoke up first with his gruff sounding voice. "Would it have anything to do with the strapping young lad in that bed over there?"

Ozpin nodded at the question and elaborated. "You would be correct Peter. We found him in the Northern Vale Forest surrounded by Grimm. Right where the reported incident took place."

"Interesting, interesting. And he was the only person in the entire area?"

Glynda answered the wired up professor before Ozpin could. "From what we could gather Oobleck. Though we didn't have much of a chance to investigate. The boy needed medical attention and there were hundreds of Grimm still moving on his location."

The academic hunter put a hand to his chin as he pondered the possibilities. "Hmm, the Grimm are attracted to negative emotions as you all as well familiar with and that portion of Vale has been devoid of Grimm due to lack of human presence there. I find it strange that one person would be able to attract over a thousand Grimm in such a short amount of time, regardless of the emotions he was feeling. Very, very, very strange indeed."

For those that were not used to Bartholomew's fast paced talking habits it would be difficult to keep up with his thought process but all of those gathered around the table were very familiar with the intelligent man's quirks.

Ozpin hummed in agreement with Oobleck's observation. "I would have to agree with you professor-

"Ah, ah, ah. Doctor."

Ozpin took the interruption with an amused smile before continuing. "Of course, I would have to agree. I've never seen strong enough emotions to cause such a migration. But we won't be able to find out what exactly happened until he wakes up. But one thing is certain, he is a more than capable of fighter, certainly at the level of an experienced hunter, even in the exhausted state we found him in."

At this Peter Port jumped back into the conversation, fighting was always he forte when it came to hunter activity. "Ah, so he has the spirit of a true hunter then. Good to hear. What kind of weapon does he use?"

Glynda shook her head at his enthusiasm over the violent aspect of their job. "He didn't have one, at least not by the time we got to him. Though his fighting style was unusual. His aura was powerful, one of the strongest I've ever seen. He crushed Beowolves with his bare hands like they were nothing. He didn't even have to fully touch them to kill them, his aura seemed to give him an added range to his physical attacks."

Ozpin had to agree, it was certainly an oddity in the terms of fighting. "It was very strange indeed. Though I feel like I've seen something akin to that before. I just can't put my finger on it."

Peter shifted in his seat as he tried to get comfortable. "Oh ho, that sounds marvelous. I assume you captured some of the fight on video?"

Ozpin merely nodded to the question and hit a button and a 3D recording of when they arrived popped onto the table. It showed Naruto dispatching the Beowolves with ease before collapsing and then seemingly catching a second wind and nearly instantly destroyed ten more of the creatures in a display of power and speed.

Oobleck took a large drink from his thermos before he spoke up. "It is only a theory but upon seeing this. I am 97.65435% sure you have never seen this type of combat before Headmaster. This looks remarkably similar to an ancient form of fighting that was employed by the Faunus. They take in the aura of the living beings in the area and use it as if it were their own. It was a much feared type of fighting style but was rarely used due to the dangerous nature of learning it. One wrong step in managing nature's many auras could lead to instant death. The practice of even learning how to use this fighting style fell out of fashion centuries ago, even among the most extreme Faunus groups."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at his colleague before leaning back in his chair. "Are you saying that the boy is a Faunus? He doesn't appear to be one by appearance."

Oobleck pushed up his glances before clarifying. "Not exactly. Why even more rare than the Faunus, humans have been documented trying to use this form of Aura manipulation but for them most part have been unsuccessful. The Faunus simply had an affinity for Nature Aura Manipulation. Which means that if this boy was using that forbidden technique, he could be human but most historical evidence points to the fact that he is a Faunus. But that still leaves the question as to how he became so adept at using it, he seemed quite skilled at it."

It was Glynda that offered a possible explanation to the question. "Could he be a part of the White Fang? The group has become more and more extreme as of late. Maybe using ancient techniques for combat to gain an advantage is the natural next step?"

It was an uncomfortable thought to digest. At one point in time the White Fang held respect in certain human circles for their struggle against the oppression of the Faunus. Now however, their peaceful tactics have been left to the wayside and replaced with acts of terrorism all over the globe. If they were now resorting to ancient and dangerous forms of combat then there was no telling what else they might be willing to do to push their agenda.

Taking another sip from his thermos, Oobleck voiced his thoughts. "All very troubling ideas I'm sure we can all agree. But there is little value in stressing over things we have no true way of knowing, we can only plan for them in a calm fashion. Headmaster, what are you plans for this boy? Accounting for what we learn about him later of course."

Ozpin laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them as he thought. So many different scenarios could play out simply based on the boy's answers when he woke up. As for now though, a basic answer would suffice until he knew more. "If he's hostile then we will detain him and work with Atlas to determine the appropriate course of action."

Out of the corner of his eye Ozpin noticed the blond stirring in his bed. Up in only twelve hours after such a traumatic experience? The boy certainly was tough. "It seems I have an opportunity to acquire some answers right now, if you all will excuse me."

Ozpin pushed back his chair and moved himself towards the door to the other room before the voice of his colleague and longtime friend stopped him. "And what if we determine he isn't a hostile?"

Ozpin turned his head and gave the blonde woman a smile. "Well Glynda, he's already proven combat ready. If he isn't a threat, then I do believe the new semester is starting in a few short weeks."

* * *

 _(Medical Wing)_

Naruto's eyes fluttered open and winced as his entire body ached from the past day's events. As his eyes gained focus he found himself in the confines of a makeshift hospital. Though it wasn't the battlefield medical tents he had come to hate over the years of war with the Akatsuki. Nor did it have the sterile smell of a normal hospital. If anything it looked akin to a nurse's office at some school.

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh as nothing was making sense to him. All he knew for certain was he had been baited into a trap by the masked man, using Sasuke's presence as a sure fire way to lure Naruto into the open. Naruto had known the chances of it being a trap was large, but damn it all he was willing to take the risk if he could get his hands on Sasuke. If there was one thing Naruto would do before he died it would be strangling the life out of that man. He had done so many things that Naruto could and had overlooked but what Sasuke did in the war… Naruto could never forgive that.

The fight with the masked man was quick and brutal. Exchanges of high level techniques in quick succession decimated the landscape before Naruto was enveloped in a blindly light and woke up in that forest. He was angry when he woke up, a level of rage that he had only reached a few times during the height of the war and it didn't take long for those creatures to begin swarming him.

Looking back on it, he had to give those things props for persistence. They just kept coming for over twenty four hours. Just non-stop waves of monsters, one after another. If he hadn't blown through most of his natural reserves in the first two hours mindlessly killing the hordes of beasts he probably wouldn't have been as wounded as he was.

The biggest problem however came from the fact he could no longer communicate with the Nine Tails. He could feel the ball of hate in the pit of his stomach but it seemed blocked by something. He couldn't even forcefully call on the demon's power. In the heat of battle he didn't have a chance to go into his inner world to find out what exactly was the problem but he would have to do so soon. As loathe as he was to admit it, Naruto had become slightly dependent on the beast's power during the war. First thing first though, he had to figure out where he was and who those people that saved him were.

Speaking of which, one of those people just walked into the room and made his way over towards Naruto. It was the man with shaggy gray hair. He walked with a specially outfitted cane and had a disarming smile on his face. Naruto watched as the man pulled over a chair and took a seat next to Naruto.

With a pleasant smile and tone, the man extended his hand for a handshake. _"My name is Ozpin, I am the Headmaster here at Beacon. What is your name young man?"_

Naruto stared at the man in front of him with thinly disguised confusion. He couldn't understand a thing that the middle aged man was saying. Naruto in response tilted his head to the side and let his confusion show. "What?"

Now the man showed the same confusion that Naruto had. A clear language barrier presented itself between the two and neither was quite sure how to go about communicating. Again the man tried as he pointed at himself and spoke deliberately slow. _"Ozpin"._

Naruto had heard the same word before when the man spoke and put two and two together. The man's name was Ozpin. Sadly that did next to nothing for the current situation. But still, Naruto was more than willing to try to communicate as well. It wouldn't do any good to not be able to talk with his saviors/captors.

Pointing at himself much like Ozpin had just done, Naruto copied the deliberately slow speech that Ozpin had used. "Naruto".

Ozpin for his part nodded and gave Naruto a smile before it quickly faded. There wasn't going to be an easy way to go about this since he had never heard anything remotely close to the language that this Naruto apparently spoke. _"This is quite the little problem, isn't it Naruto?"_

Naruto just continued to look confused at the man, only recognizing his own name when the man spoke. At least these people didn't seem to be enemies, not yet anyway.

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy: Several Weeks Later)_

Naruto sat across from the eccentric professor as they were going over another set of flash cards of vocabulary. In a true school like fashion the staff at Beacon had developed a way to convert Naruto's unknown language into their own basic tongue.

The beginning was grueling to say the least. But they had made a break through when they started comparing basic objects and writing down the words and comparing the symbols. Oobleck, in the caffeinated frenzy that seemed to be perpetual for the man, took off with the very basic comparisons and within a week had made a rough translation between the two very different alphabets and from there things went relatively smoothly.

While Naruto hated anything to do with school and learning things not related to combat, the necessity of learning this new language was painfully apparent. He was still at square one as far as learning about anything relevant to this world and how he might have arrived here. On the plus side, with the aid of his shadow clones, something Oobleck was very much intrigued with, Naruto was able to exponentially increase the rate at which he absorbed the information. He was at the point in which he considered himself fluent in the language, and it only took a few weeks.

"Naruto! Pay attention, stop daydreaming!"

Naruto was shaken out of his thoughts as the energetic man slammed his fist on the table. Naruto had the decency to look sheepish as he leaned back on the chair. "Look professor-

"Doctor!" Bartholomew corrected forcefully.

"Right, doctor, anyways. Look isn't this a little pointless to keep cramming the basics like this? I'm pretty sure I've got the language down."

Before Oobleck could go into a small tirade about how it was never a waste of time to go over the basics of anything another voice interjected. "Well then perhaps we can have the conversation that we've been skirting around the last three weeks, hmmm Naruto?"

Naruto and Oobleck turned to see the academy's infamous Headmaster walking towards them. With a small shifting of his hand, he silently dismissed Oobleck before taking the man's seat. Ozpin gave Naruto a pleasant smile that seemed to be stuck on the man's face.

Not once had Naruto seen the man even so much as frown. No one could always be in such a good mood. Still, the man hadn't given Naruto a reason to distrust him. No one at Beacon had actually so much as given him a bad vibe. If anything he owed these people for saving his life against those monsters that they called Grimm.

Even with all of that Naruto still didn't trust them. In his line of work that kind of trust could sometimes turn fatal. Not to mention with what happened last month, he wasn't about to trust anyone for a long time.

Naruto's bored demeanor changed rapidly into a more serious one when he realized the conversation that Ozpin wanted to have. It surprised Naruto that it had taken this long for Ozpin to confront him. Perhaps he felt it that Naruto needed to have a fully realized understanding of their language to get what he wanted. Maybe he had some other reason for putting off the conversation. Either way, none of that mattered as Ozpin opened up the dialogue.

"Do you remember anything from three weeks ago? The night we found you in the Northern Vale Forest?"

Naruto squinted his eyes as he tried to recall that night. To be completely honest when you fight for over twenty four hours straight things tend to blend together. The events from that day were hazy to say the least. "Honestly not really. I was fighting a man in a white mask. It was a trap that I realized far too late. Then there was a blinding light and I woke up in those woods surrounded by Grimm. From that point I just fought. Time seemed to disappear as more and more of those things swarmed me. I have no idea how long I was out there, over a day for sure though. I was running on my last legs when you showed up."

Ozpin nodded to himself as he wrote a few things down. Naruto had his first suspicions that he wasn't anywhere near home when he was first being swarmed by the Grimm but he hadn't realized that he was in an entirely different world until after they were well on their way to destroying the language barrier. Since this was a place of learning the books he was given to read to help him practice were history books about the world of Remnant.

It was a shock to the system when he realized just how far away from home he really was. He had no idea how it happened but somehow the Masked Man had transported him to a different dimension. Naruto knew the man had the ability to jump between dimensions but he never imagined that it extended to this level.

It was then that Naruto decided to keep that little fact under wraps. He could barely keep it together when he found out with all the evidence hitting him in the face. How would these people act if he started spewing nonsense like multiple dimensions? He had no intention of being locked away in a crazy house thank you very much.

"So you don't know how you arrived in the Northern Vale Forest? Fair enough. Then can you tell me who this man in a white mask was?"

Truth be told, Naruto actually couldn't. Even after a full year of war between the Allied Shinobi Forces and the Akatsuki the Masked Man had been able to keep his identity under wraps. "No. All I know is that he's the leader of a terrorist group and incredibly dangerous. I couldn't even touch him."

Was Naruto being misleading? Yes but with good reason. Remnant had a terrorist problem all over the globe. The White Fang were progressively becoming a bigger issue than the mindless Grimm, which given the history of Remnant was certainly saying something. It just so happened that the sign of the White Fang uniform was that of a white Grimm mask and the Masked Man leading the Akatsuki had recently adorned a new, white mask. Coincidence? Certainly. Was Naruto going to abuse it? Absolutely.

Ozpin scratched a few more notes down on his paper before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small piece of paper and sliding across the table. "Does this mean anything to you?"

Naruto reached out and grabbed the paper and frowned on the outside while inwardly smirking. It was a picture of the head of a large cat with three slashes going through it, the entire thing was red, the symbol of the White Fang.

With as somber a tone as Naruto could fake, he replied. "The White Fang."

Ozpin nodded before he took the picture back and put it away. "From your voice I take it you're no stranger with dealing with the White Fang. How long have you been a member?"

Naruto looked away and tried to convey discomfort with the entire subject. Naruto had read quite a bit about the White Fang and the Faunus discrimination problem in general. It was fascinating how similar the people of this world were like compared to those in the Elemental Nations. A history of slavery, abuse and discrimination simply because they were slightly different in appearance. The similarities between the Faunus and how Jinchūriki of his world were treated sent a chill down his spine.

Ozpin read the discomfort Naruto was showing and tried to reassure Naruto of his safety. "I know that a human is probably the last person you would want to talk with about this kind of thing but rest assured, you are safe here. I'm aware of the price one has to pay to leave that organization. It was brave of you to try and leave even with the possibility of death."

Almost there. Naruto needed Ozpin on his side. If he could avoid being turned over to the authorities as a terrorist then he might be able to get out of here and start searching for how the hell he was going to get home. "I couldn't be a part of that group. Their tactics were targeting the wrong people. I won't murder innocent people."

Naruto let his longer bangs shadow his eyes. Once again, he had yet to say a single lie. Though within the context of this conversation his answers implied something radically different then what they actually meant. But Ozpin seemed to buy it as he stopped taking notes and put a hand on his shoulder.

"The White Fang can't reach you here, not at Beacon. But I'm not sure where else you can go. From what I can glean, you've been with the White Fang for as well as you can remember. I know this is sudden, but if you wish, you can stay here at Beacon. The new semester is starting and you can join the freshmen class. You can become a Hunter, start over fresh."

That… was not what Naruto wanted. But on the other hand it wasn't the worst thing that the Headmaster could have said. Though it seemed very strange that he would allow someone that was in his mind, a member of the world's most notorious terrorist group, join one of the most prestigious schools in the world. "You would accept me, just like that? I'm sorry but I find that too good to be true."

At this Ozpin gave Naruto a genuine smile. "I have a different sort of acceptance policy than most schools. Your past only matters to me in regards to how it shaped the person I see in front of me. The strength of character of the individual matters to me much more than past mistakes. And someone willing to risk their life instead doing something that they believe is wrong speaks volumes about their character, don't you agree? Welcome to Beacon Naruto."

With that the man raised himself from his chair and walked out of the room, only stopping at the door to give one last thought for Naruto to entertain. "I know that this is a big shock to you. I hope that one day soon you'll be able to trust us enough to fully open up. Oh, one last thing. There are a few Faunus that attend Beacon, one in particular that might be interesting to you. You two have a…similar past. A freshman named Blake Belladonna. You may want to find her."

With that Ozpin left the room and left Naruto to his own devices. Ozpin walked towards his office as he navigated the series of halls that made up Beacon Academy. Unsurprising to the Headmaster, his colleague Glynda was waiting for him in his office.

She gave him a questioning gaze as he started working through the countless papers on his desk. "Well?" She asked with an annoyed tone.

Stopping as he finished organizing a particularly large stack of papers, he focused his vision on the young Huntress. "He is an interesting character. Quite dishonest though."

At that Glynda raised an eyebrow as she waited for her superior to continue. Seeing her expression, he decided to elaborate. "He's certainly foreign and I believe he is genuine when he told me that he doesn't know how he ended up in the Northern Vale Forest. Though he's claiming that he was in a fight with a leader of the White Fang before he ended up there. He claims he was ambushed."

The White Fang's tactics have become more and more known throughout the years and such an ambush would never be used on some no name teenager unless they were a deserter. The White Fang did not take kindly to betrayal. "The boy was a member of the White Fang?"

Ozpin adjusted his glasses before he answered. "Hmmm, so he claims. Though I don't believe him to be completely honest in that regard. He's clever, throughout the entire conversation he told me half-truths. I believe it was his intention to mislead through contextual clues. He was good at it, if it was anyone else I'm sure they would never have even realized he was leading the conversation the entire time."

Glynda bit her lower lip at hearing this. The boy was clearly skilled in combat and with this new revelation, it all but screamed a skilled infiltration attempt. But the question was who was trying to infiltrate them? "I don't like this Ozpin, he's too much of an unknown, and we should send him to Ironwood and let him deal with the boy."

At that Ozpin actually let out a chuckle. "My, my, so quick to get rid of the boy are we? No, under all of the bluster and half-truths I saw something. He's afraid, he's alone and scared in an unfamiliar environment. The more we learn about him the more I'm starting to believe Bartholomew's outlandish theory. Tell me, did he finish his more in depth study of the boy's mystery language?"

Glynda frowned as she pulled out a small folder and handed it to the Headmaster. "Yes, and it makes this situation all the more confusing. Oobleck was very careful to check over every single known language throughout the history of Remnant, from all four kingdoms and all the way out to the uncharted territories. Nothing even remotely comes close to the language the boy developed, it doesn't make any sense."

Looking over the results, Ozpin gave the rather uptight Goodwitch a quick laugh before he responded. "No sense unless you believe Oobleck's theory."

Glynda did not like being mocked and let it show as she all but growled at Ozpin. "Do you seriously want me to believe that this boy somehow came from another dimension!?"

A smirk came to Ozpin's face as he got a rise out of Glynda. "No, I do not. What I do want from you however is to have an open mind about this. We live in a world where different dust particulars allow us to control the elements, where monsters that have no soul indiscriminately kill us for a reason we cannot conceive. Is this so out of the bounds of reason?"

Glynda had an unsure look on her face but conceded his point. It wasn't as if he was stating it as a fact, merely a possibility. A possibility that was so absurd that she would normally laugh at the person proposing it but a possibility nonetheless. "Regardless of his origins, do you believe he is dangerous?"

Ozpin stroked his chin lightly has he contemplated the question. "Dangerous? I don't believe he's an enemy if that's what you mean. Secretive certainly, but I do believe he is a good person, if not a little jaded. This of course does rely on the assumption that he isn't native to Remnant. The blood work that was done on him came back with little reassurance. A mixture of human and Faunus DNA. Similar to both but not quite a match to either. I do say that we have never come across such an individual such as young Naruto."

Glynda wasn't nearly as amused by this as Ozpin. Unknowns were dangerous in their line of work. With rumors spreading of a possible global war and terrorism at the highest it's been since the Faunus Rights Revolution, unknowns were the last thing that Glynda wanted to deal with. "And what pray tell are we to do with him, assuming he isn't a sleeper agent?"

"Well that's simple. He will enroll here at Beacon as a freshman and we'll see what happens. I am most curious to see how he will turn out."

If the outrage of that suggestion wasn't written all over Glynda's face then her angry outburst was more than enough to convey her feelings about that decision. "Are you insane Ozpin!? Having him at the academy while the students are on break was one thing but you actually want to have him enroll here? Live and learn among the students? That's taking too great a risk, even for you. You must be joking."

Ozpin frowned at the usually level headed woman and handed her a piece of paper he had been writing on. "I am not joking about this. Here is his acceptance form. It will be your responsibility to find him a room and any necessary supplies that he will need for the following year. Your concerns are noted but my decision is firm on this. We have a great opportunity here Glynda. If we nurture the potential we witnessed a few weeks ago and have him form a favorable opinion of us then he could become invaluable. Worst case scenario, we have over a dozen highly trained hunters/huntresses at the academy at any given time. He would be a fool to try anything here, and from I can tell, he is no fool."

Anger built in her eyes but Glynda said nothing as she took the form. When it came down to it, he outranked her and she would have to follow his orders, whether she wanted to or not. She would have to trust him on this and pray it didn't bite them in the ass later.

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy)_

Naruto walked in line behind the blonde huntress that he had seen by the Headmaster's side from time to time, Glynda was her name if memory served. She had given him some basic supplies, toiletries and a few changes of clothing. Nothing fancy, just some black workout shirts/shorts, and a standard black and burgundy male school uniform for class. Sadly his combat clothes he arrived in were beyond repair and he hadn't had a chance to venture out into town to buy a suitable replacement, not like he had any money to spend anyway.

Usually Naruto would try to start at least small talk with whatever hunter/huntress he was with but Glynda's mood radiated anger and he wanted nothing to do with that. He just silently followed her through the corridors until they reached a large set of doors that she opened with ease.

What was inside was not what Naruto was expecting. It was a large room filled with teenagers of both sexes that seemed to all be getting ready for the largest sleepover Naruto had ever seen. Well he had never technically been to a sleepover so that wasn't hard to beat but still, he didn't think that this many people was the norm.

He looked at the woman he had been following expectantly to which she just let out a sigh and pointed towards the room. "All the freshmen are sleeping here tonight since the teams haven't been assigned as of yet. Once the teams have been assembled then you will be assigned a dorm with your team."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and gulped a little bit as he warded off her icy glare. He had no idea what he had done but she really didn't like him. This woman was stone cold, at least to him. "Right, thanks. I guess I'll just go find a corner to crawl into."

Glynda made an indignant sound before she turned on her heel to leave. "You do that. Oh and Naruto. Stay out of trouble or you'll have to report to me. I take punishment very _seriously_."

The way she ended that sentence before she walked off made Naruto shiver a bit. What was it with strong women always threatening him for things he hadn't even done yet? There had only been one girl that had been just outright nice to him for the sake of being nice. She never assumed the worst in him like almost every other girl he had ever met. And now she was…

Naruto's demeanor nearly instantly became somber as his thoughts strayed to a corner of his mind he wanted to deeply bury. Dwelling on those memories would only bring him pain. She was gone now, nothing could change that fact.

Naruto made his way through the crowd of undistinguishable faces until he found a small corner of the room that wasn't occupied and put his borrowed belongings on the floor. He dropped down next to his supplies and rested his back against the wall and looked at what was supposed to be his classmates.

Only a few stood out among the crowd, a girl with a red hood and a slightly older girl with blonde hair that was talking to a skinny blond guy. A red headed girl with long braided hair that wore armor instead of regular clothing. A girl with short orange hair and green eyes that was talking to a boy with messy black hair and strangely purple eyes. And lastly a girl with snow white hair that resembled something more akin to a porcelain doll than a person who had a comparatively large set up with a number of amenities that Naruto could only assume were expensive luxuries.

"Hey. Why are you in the corner away from everyone else?"

Naruto's observations were brought to a grinding halt as a girl with long flowing black hair with a black bow on top of her head made her presence known by standing right in front of him. She was wearing a mixture of a white and black button up shirt with coattails flowing behind her. Her legs were covered by black stockings that slowly faded purple as they reached her high heeled boots.

The most stunning thing about this girl however were her eyes. Naruto had never seen such fierce amber colored eyes, they seemed almost animalistic. Realizing he was staring at the girl in front of him, Naruto quickly started scratching the back of his head and said the first thing that came into his head. "Oh me? I just didn't want to be in the way. I don't really know anyone here."

The girl took his answer for what is was and decided to sit down next to him for a moment. Naruto noticed a lack of belongings and assumed she had set up camp somewhere else. "I can relate to that. I… haven't had the best of luck meeting any new friends since I arrived in Vale."

Naruto smiled at the girl. She seemed nice and it didn't hurt that she was gorgeous. "Well I'll be your friend. The name's Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

The girl giggled at Naruto's mannerisms. "You really aren't from around here are you? I haven't heard of anyone inverting their name before. The name's Blake, Blake Belladonna."

That name sounded familiar, he could have sworn he heard that name before. Then it hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. This was the girl that Ozpin said shared a similar past with him. That meant she was a Faunus, which at least explained her unusual eyes. Naruto actually chuckled to himself, he didn't think he would find her so quickly. He didn't even know if he was going to seek her out but low and behold, she came to him.

Blake gave Naruto an adorable pout before she puffed out her cheeks and asked. "What's so funny huh?

"Hehe, nothing. It's just you aren't exactly what I pictured you to be. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't this. Pleasantly surprised to say the least. A pleasure to meet you Blake."

Blake's eyes contorted in confusion as she processed his words. What did he mean by what he was expecting? How did he know her at all? She had never seen him before. "And what do you mean by I'm not what you we-"

Blake was cut off as the blonde girl with the ample chest appeared in front of them with a bright smile on her face. Naruto looked at her in surprise before he hesitantly asked her a question. "Umm, can we help you?"

The chipper girl nearly bounced up and down as she nodded. "Yep! Well not you but she can. My sister says she knows you and I wanted to meet you. The name's Yang, come on!"

Without waiting for an answer, Yang all but lifted Blake off the ground and dragged her away to where her sister was panicking with the white haired girl.

"Hey wait, I wasn't done talking with h-"

Naruto could hear Blake trying to resist the surprisingly strong girl as her voice slowly died the farther the girl got away from Naruto. Well that sure was interesting but now all he wanted to do was go to bed and get some rest, he didn't know what this orientation was but it didn't sound too boring. He should be probably be awake for it.

"Hey man, you know that black haired chick? Nice dude." Naruto turned to the new voice and saw the blond haired guy that was talking with the hooded girl a few moments ago was now in front of him. Great, now he was doing this.

Naruto gave a shrug as he responded to the question. "Uh, not really. I actually just met her when she came over here to talk to me."

The unnamed teen dropped to the floor next to Naruto and let out a long whistle. "Damn, you gotta teach me your secret man. You just have hot chicks walking right up to you. Pffft, I can't even get them to look at me when I talk to them, except Ruby, but she's not really my type."

Naruto raised his eyebrow at the bluntness this guy was displaying. While it was refreshing to meet someone else who shared in his blunt conversation skills, he really didn't like where this particular conversation was going. Women were one of the last things on his mind. "I've got no secret. I just sat down here and tried to keep to myself. I had nothing to do with it."

"Man, that's what I'm talking about! You got that mysterious stranger vibe going on. The bad boy that doesn't want to deal with anyone around him. Chicks dig that dude!"

Naruto sweat dropped as he listened to this guy ramble about his woes with women. A part of this guy reminded of himself when he was younger and it was kind of endearing in a way. "Well if I figure anything out I'll be sure to let you know…uh…"

Realizing his mistake, the blond introduced himself properly. "Oh right, my bad. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet ya."

Naruto extended his fist in the way Bee had taught him, the odd ninja's way of greeting people had worn off on Naruto the more time he had spent with him. "Naruto Uzumaki. Same."

Jaune looked at the gesture before he extended his own fist and bumped it with Naruto's. "Uzumaki huh, what a strange name. Anyway, good meeting you. I'm going to hit the hay, we've got an early day tomorrow. Cya 'round Naruto."

Naruto gave Jaune a short salute as the guy walked away. What interesting people attended this school. Perhaps it wouldn't be as horrible as he thought it would be hanging around this place while he looked for a way home.

* * *

 _(Orientation Field)_

"-And the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner that will help form your team. Any questions?"

Naruto looked down and examined the platform that he was standing on before looking around the group at the other students that seemed to be hyping themselves up for what was about to come.

What an odd little game the Headmaster had devised to test them and make teams. If he was honest with himself it kind of reminded himself of the bell test Kakashi had given his team back in the day.

"Ah yea, I have a question. Do we have a landing strategy?"

Naruto looked at Jaune who was standing next to him with a smirk. The guy seemed perplexed and worried at the same time as he watched the other students in front of him be launched into the forest.

"The landing strategy is whatever you plan, the choice is up to you."

Jaune did not seem at ease with the answer Ozpin gave him and tried to ask a quick follow up. "And what if you don't have a lan-!"

And there he went, poor bastard, didn't even get to finish his sentence. Naruto braced himself as his platform vaulted him into the air as well. Wind whipped past his hair as he soared. He briefly noticed that Jaune had been snagged by a spear from one of the students mid-air and was about to pin him to the tree. Looks like he made a friend.

Naruto tucked his legs under him and rolled through the dense canopy of trees. His body bashed through the assortment of leaves and branches until he broke through the initial forest ceiling. Unraveling himself from his ball form, Naruto slammed into the ground with his knees bent.

Standing up from his spot, Naruto rubbed his knees from the rather rough landing. Alright, time to move. He wanted to get this test out of the way as soon as possible, he didn't particularly care for the partner aspect however.

Though before Naruto could even take off running, a large Ursa Grimm walked up behind him. The creature was easily three times as big as Naruto and had an assortment of scars covering its body.

Naruto turned to the beast who simply roared at him as it charged him. "Well that didn't take long…" Naruto muttered under his breath as the beast brought down one of its massive claws on him.

Naruto saw the attack coming a mile away and moved his body to the side slightly and let the limb slam harmlessly in front of his face, cracking the ground as it did so. "Well aren't you a big fella huh?"

Whether the mindless creature registered the taunt or not, Naruto saw the creature's other massive claw coming at him from the side. With a blur of motion Naruto vanished from his spot much to the Ursa's confusion.

"Big but slow, and dumb. Don't forget dumb." Naruto grinned from his spot on top of the Ursa's shoulders. He probably shouldn't be having as much fun toying with this Grimm but he couldn't help himself. He hadn't so much as lifted a weight in the last month. He needed a little blood pumping action.

Before the Ursa could try and shake Naruto off of its back, Naruto formed a regular sized rasengan and slammed it down into the base of the beast's neck. _"Rasengan!"_

While small, the attacks destructive force was not to be underestimated as it easily passed through the creature's thick hide and destroyed the upper part of the monster's spine, crumbling the Ursa within seconds.

Naruto watched as the Ursa he was still standing on slowly started to vanish. It was freaky how these things just disappeared when you killed them. He didn't think he would ever get used to that.

The rustle of a few leaves alerted Naruto to the fact that he wasn't alone and in another blur of motion he was out of sight.

"What!? Where did he go? How could he disappear right in front of my eyes?" Pyrrha whispered to herself as she lost track of the person she was stalking. She didn't have any ill intentions for him, she was merely interested in how he fought.

Her thoughts of where her target had gone vanished as she felt a finger on the base of the back of her neck. A small trickle of sweat formed on her brow as she couldn't believe she had given up her back in such a way.

Naruto stared down at the red headed girl who went rigid the moment he had touched her. She was skilled, he almost didn't find her in these bushes. If it wasn't for the slightest of rustling she made when she hid in them he wouldn't have even known she was tailing him. Either he was getting rusty or she was simply exceptional. For the sake his pride he would assume the latter. "It's not very nice to spy on people."

The gladiator styled girl didn't move as she responded to Naruto. "I did not mean to offend. I was simply curious. You have a very unique fighting style. I've never seen Aura formed and utilized in such a way."

Ah, Aura. The natural extension of one's very soul that could be used in the middle of combat to enhance one's defensive and combative techniques. It reminded him of chakra to a certain extent but he really didn't' know enough about it to make that call. "Well I'm a pretty unique individual."

Naruto removed his hand from the back of her neck and took a few steps back to let the girl have some room. She took the invitation and stood up but didn't turn around to face him. "I can see that. I never caught your name."

Naruto found it strange that she didn't turn around but still answered her question. "Naruto Uzumaki. Yours?"

Surprise entered her voice as she still kept her back to him. "You mean you don't know who I am?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders at her question. "Should I? I'm not really from around here so I don't know anyone."

Naruto couldn't quite tell but she seemed almost, dare he say happy, that he didn't know who she was? She even giggled slightly at his response. "No, that makes me glad. My name is Pyrrha Nikos. A pleasure."

"Well it would be nice to meet you if I could see your face. Why don't you turn around so I can stop talking to the back of your head?"

Pyrrha shook her head in the negative as she answered Naruto. "I'm sorry. It's nothing personal. It's just the first person we make eye contact with will be our partner for the rest of the year and I had a different partner in mind. I'm sorry."

Naruto let out a small laugh as he started walking away. "Don't worry about it. I didn't really want a partner anyway. I'll see ya around, yea?"

Pyrrha smiled to herself as she heard the rustle of leaves she had heard before she had lost sight of Naruto. She turned around and sure enough, he was nowhere to be seen, only a swirl of leaves to signify his departure. It appeared there would be a lot of strong fighters in this year's class. Good, Pyrrha liked the competition.

* * *

 _(Relic Chamber)_

Naruto landed in a crouch in the middle of several pillars, each with a chess piece sitting on top of each pillar. None of them were taken so he must have found this place first. Not really a shocker to the blond shinobi as his trip here had been rather uneventful after his run in with Pyrrha.

He had seen multiple of the other students as they found their partners and found countless Grimm, all of which he decided to outpace instead of stand and fight. As far as he was concerned, all he needed to do was find a relic and get to the extraction point, everything else was secondary.

Looking around at all the different pieces he noticed they all had a matching piece. Black Bishop, White Bishop and so on. All of them except one. Sitting on the center pillar was a lone piece, the King. Walking up to it, Naruto only hesitated for a moment before he picked it up. Looking at the piece for a moment, Naruto scoffed at the irony of having to collect game pieces as if everyone here was simply a game piece for the Headmaster.

Naruto paused on that train of thought. In a way they were. He was training them to be viable warriors that he would in turn command to complete certain objectives later. In a cynical point of view they were just simply pawns.

Crushing that train of thought. Naruto pocketed the 'relic' and made his way to the extraction point. Mission complete.

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy)_

"Team RWBY will be led by Ruby! Congratulations."

A round of applause followed the end of Ozpin's' speech. Naruto looked around him and noticed that everyone had been accounted for and been put into teams of four, everyone except for him. While there was a little feeling of being isolated once again, it was probably better if he didn't get a team.

"And for the first time in the history of Beacon Academy. Let me introduce Beacon's first single man team. Team N led by Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto tried to put on a smile as he walked out on stage but only managed an awkward smile and a half wave as he was met with a mass of whispers and questions instead of the resounding applause everyone else had received. Great, that was how he wanted to make his first impression.

Ozpin watched with a smile as Naruto quickly made his way off stage and blended in with the crowd. "And that concludes the Freshmen Orientation Ceremony. Classes will begin tomorrow. Good luck hunting!"

Ozpin smiled as another round of applause broke out and people started leaving the auditorium. Unfortunately not everyone was happy as Glynda was all but drilling a hole into the side of his head with her stare. "Care to explain Ozpin?"

Not needing any clarification on her question, Ozpin elaborated. "Naruto is a unique case that needs to be handled different than most. We don't know the full ramifications of his presence yet and nothing is definitive. I feel it would be best if we put him by himself for now. Have him tag along with other teams when missions roll around while keeping his independence. Also, something tells me that he would prefer to be alone, at least right now."

Glynda scoffed at the vagueness of his explanation but wasn't willing to argue with him at the moment, she had a long day ahead of her tomorrow. She needed her sleep.

Ozpin didn't stop her as she left, he merely watched as the students continued to file out of the room. A few heads sticking out to him. Team RWBY, JNPR, and then finally he rested on Naruto's head. This year was going to be certainly interesting.

* * *

 **Bam, done. Oh man, I can't tell you guys how good it feels to be back into the writing swing of things. I'm so happy to be back and for those of you who are still with me I hope you're as excited as I am.**

 **Now that the fire is back I plan to update far more regularly. Keep in mind I'm finishing my last semester of University so I'm still fairly busy but I think I finally have my life sorted out in a way that I can manage a fairly consistent schedule. Expect another update sometime this weekend for my main story and then regular bi to tri weekly updates from that point onward.**

 **As for this story in particular. I love the plans I have for this story and I love the RWBY series in general. I literally wrote this entire chapter within the span of 48 hours because of how excited I was to write it. I'm still on the fence as to give Naruto a customizable weapon or not. If anyone has any ideas put them down in a review and I'll look at them. Maybe you'll see your idea later in the story!**

 **As always, leave a review! I read them all and if you have any questions/criticisms don't be afraid to write it down. I read all the reviews and respond to each one that warrants a response. I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter, I know I enjoyed writing it!**


	2. One Trick Too Far

**I've had a ton of great feedback from you guys and I really appreciate it! Though I have gotten some concerns about certain characters being OOC, mostly Naruto and especially Blake. Keep in mind I have a legitimate reason for everything I write, I don't write characters just because I want them to act a certain way.**

 **I take a ridiculous amount of time to carefully research each character to try and attempt to get their character down as best as I can and I have very good reasons as to why Blake acted in the manner that she did. Naruto's actions will be explained throughout the story since he's not the exact Naruto we know from canon. He's very similar but there are some important changes, which once again, will be addressed as the story progresses.**

 **I'm going to take some time here to explain Blake in the Author's Note because of how important it seems. I usually never do this but since it was such a highly contested issue that I received multiple reviews and PM's regarding it that I feel I really need to address it now. Keep in mind I will not be doing this again, I'm only doing this because it's the first chapter and I would rather not lose readers simply because they misinterpret my writing.**

 **Blake is anti-social in the beginning of the series without a doubt, at least to humans. But in all honesty this persona she has doesn't last very long as evidenced with how easily she gets along with Yang in the forest right away and how she seems to be rather pleasant to everyone on team RWBY with little time passing. You also can't chalk this up to her having to communicate with her team as a necessity because if she was truly anti-social that character trait wouldn't just disappear, as exampled by Ren who is the quietest character in the show, even after being on team JNPR for a long time. His quiet nature doesn't disappear after getting to know his team, hence one has to assume that Blake isn't as anti-social since this character trait disappears except for when they first deal with the White Fang, which even that doesn't last very long.**

 **Furthermore to that point, Blake may not be trusting of humans but she seems to be more than willing to be openly friendly with Faunus she had literally just met, as evidenced by her hanging out with Sun after only seeing him being chased and him winking at her. If a character was truly anti-social then she would never hang out with Sun after getting into an argument with her friends, she would opt to be alone. So the logical conclusion is that she is very picky with who she's social with but has no problems being social with people of her own species. This plays into Naruto having a powerful connection with Nature, because at least within the confines of this story, the Faunus have, at least to a higher degree than humans, a strong bond with Nature. This was touched upon in the first chapter and is the primary reason Blake came up to Naruto, she sensed his connection to Nature and wanted to see if he was a Faunus like her. Within this story, which I will explain later, Faunus have the ability to sense people's connection with Nature. It's how Faunus can identify one another without it being obvious from their outward appearances. Example would be Sun knowing that Blake was a Faunus with only a glance even when she was disguising herself.**

 **Again, all of these things would have been explained throughout the story and I hate having to literally write out plot and world devices but I felt that this needed to be addressed. If anyone wants anymore clarifications/disagree/have comments don't be afraid to leave a review or PM me. I prefer to answer these things behind the scenes anyway but again, this was common enough that it warranted a response.**

 **Now, let's get on to the actual story!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own either Naruto or RWBY, they belong to their respective owners. I just read a fan theory about Ruby and god damn it makes so much sense and it completely changes my entire perspective on her character. If true, it makes her character 100x better in my opinion, which is impressive since she's already a good character.**

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy)_

Naruto thought back on the few weeks that had passed as he idly doodled in his notebook while Oobleck went on about an ancient kingdom that he really couldn't find the energy to even give the appearance that he was interested in what the man was saying. Naruto would give the man one thing though, he had a passion for what he did and Naruto could respect that. This stuff bored him to death but if Oobleck enjoyed it then all the more power to him.

On the other hand, Naruto didn't really care about this kind history since in theory, it should have zero impact on his life once he figured out a way home. If everything went according to plan he would find his way home within a month or two. The only problem was that he didn't have the slightest idea where to begin searching.

A blur of motion brought his eyes off of his paper and were redirected into the bifocals of his professor. "Pay attention Naruto! Or would you rather write a ten page essay on how the fall of the Fringe Kingdom led to the beginning of the Faunus Rights Revolution?"

The man didn't wait for an answer as he zipped across the room and continued his lecture. The amount of caffeine that man consumed could not be healthy. Naruto sighed as his eyes landed on the clock and realized the class still had plenty of life left in it. His eyes moved a little bit lower and he averted his gaze nearly instantly and put it back to his notes.

Blake had been staring at him with those fierce amber eyes, again…

It wasn't a nice or friendly kind of stare, it was borderline angry/suspicious and he had absolutely no idea what he had done to incur her wrath. She had been pleasant the first time they had talked but since then she was anything but. She had yet to confront him with whatever was her problem and Naruto was just fine with that. He really didn't want to deal with that at the moment.

Naruto put down his pencil as he felt something soft bounce off his spikey blonde hair. He knew where the ball of paper had come from and almost didn't look up towards where it was thrown. Unfortunately he couldn't really ignore it as another one bounced off his head to which he glared back at what he assumed was Blake throwing them.

To his surprise it came from the girl next to her. Yang Xia Long, the blonde beauty of team RWBY. She was basically the polar opposite of Blake, in more ways than just their color scheme. She was perky, hyper active and just had a shining personality. She radiated confidence in everything she did, even in the things she sucked at, like academics.

Naruto watched as she made an exaggerated motion of unraveling something and he found himself sighing again as he grabbed the first piece of paper that was thrown at him and read the note that was written inside of it.

 _Meet me outside after class ok?_

Naruto looked back over at the girl who had a wide grin on her face. He really had no idea what on earth she could want. He really wasn't close with the girl, or anyone at Beacon to be honest.

Naruto was an oddity in the school with being the first ever solo man team. People talked and rumors spread like wild fire as to why it happened yet no one had come up and asked him. It wasn't as if he knew the answer himself but it was pretty annoying regardless. Literally being the odd man out in this situation kind of isolated Naruto from the rest of the student body.

One thing Naruto had figured out rather quickly was that this school was very cliquey. Once teams were formed you ended up spending most of your time with your team, very rarely had Naruto seen anyone interacting with people outside of their team except for a few of the upperclassmen. As a result, Naruto was left to his own devices.

With maybe the exception of the teams RWBY and JNPR, Naruto didn't think he had actually spoke with anyone from the other squads. Not that it particularly bothered Naruto, he had made a point to not reach out to anyone for obvious reasons, it was simply an observation he had made.

Looking back at the girl, Naruto grumbled to himself as he wrote back a response. Even though he hadn't gone out of his way to talk with anyone, there was little value in being completely anti-social.

 _When and where?_

Naruto crumpled up the paper into a similar ball that had hit him in the head and quickly tossed the paper back at the bright eyed girl. Unfortunately, in their professor's caffeinated frenzy he managed to zip in between the aisles and snatch the piece of paper out of the air. "And what do we have here? Passing notes during class? What could be so important that you have to communicate it during such a pivotal part of Remnant's history? Let's find out shall we?"

Naruto put his head on his desk as Oobleck opened the note and cleared his throat to begin reading it. He briefly noticed Yang's embarrassed look on her face at being caught and the questioning looks that she was receiving from her fellow teammates.

"Ah hem, question: Meet me after class ok? Response: When and where? Answer, this classroom immediately once class finishes. Am I understood, Yang? Naruto?"

"Yes professor" they said in unison, which elicited the predictable response from the man as he yelled back doctor at the two of them before continuing his lecture.

Naruto sighed at having to waste more time in Oobleck's classroom. He didn't mind the man but being stuck in the class room wouldn't fix any of his problems. First and foremost, before he could even start searching for a way home he needed to establish his place in this world.

Naruto wasn't a fool, he couldn't just up and start searching across the globe for a potential way home. He was relatively alone in a relatively unknown world. To even have a chance at finding his way home he needed connections, resources and some semblance of trust with people with the aforementioned things. He also needed a better understanding of how the world worked around him. Knowing the political climate, Grimm and acceptable social behavior and stigmas were a necessity.

Sadly that meant Naruto had to spend an unfortunate amount of time in an academy. Time was the key to everything right now. Building trust wasn't something that could be done overnight, even more so when his back story was one of a former member of Remnant's worst terrorist organization. Ozpin seemed to like him but that didn't mean the man trusted him and at this point, being on Ozpin's good side was his best chance at making the connections he needed to successfully search not only Vale but the rest of Remnant.

Looking back over to the person that put him on Oobleck's temporary shit list, Naruto took some satisfaction in the fact that Yang had an adorable pout on her face while her younger sister Ruby was poking the back of her head.

Somehow Yang must have noticed him looking at her and in turn gave him a sheepish smile and a thumbs up. Her smile must have been contagious as he ended up giving her a genuine grin before quickly going back to his notes.

Class continued to drag on but it eventually came to a close as someone pointed out that Oobleck had gone over time once again in his zeal to provide his young students with information. The students filtered out one by one as they packed up their things, none of them even acknowledging Naruto as they left, all of them except one. Blake stopped momentarily as she passed him. She seemed indecisive about something before she turned away from him and continued on her way out into the hall.

Soon it was only Naruto, Yang and Oobleck left in the room. The man tried to muster as threatening as a figure as he could but sadly the intellectual wasn't up to the task of being intimidating. "Now for whatever reason the two of you have made it painfully obvious that you care very little about the subject material being presented today. May I inquire as to why?"

Neither Yang nor Naruto could give the professor a straight answer as they both looked away to avoid attention. Sadly with them being the only two in the room, there wasn't much else to take attention away from them.

The esteemed doctor sighed to himself as he took another swig from his thermos. "I am quite aware that my classes do not always cover the most interesting of subjects for my students but they are imperative for your success in the field. You may not realize it now but the lessons you learn here will one day be applied in real world situations, you may never know when such an opportunity will arise where this knowledge will become vital to your success."

At his explanation Yang let out a laugh which garnered her a deathly stare from the professor. "I'm sorry but how will knowing who fought who and what caused what in a war that happened hundreds of years ago? I don't think knowing the general of a Faunus army is going to help me punch some Grimm."

Naruto, while not wanting to say it himself, completely agreed with the girl's words. History was great for those that liked it but as far as what they did in the field, this was pretty pointless.

Oobleck did not agree however. "An interesting point you make. Imagine this for instance. Open warfare breaks out between the White Fang and the Vale Kingdom. The war is long and many lives are lost on both sides with absolutely no end in sight. You are the commander of our forces and an unexpected glimmer of hope appears, the White Fang offer negotiations to end the war. What do you do?"

Yang looked puzzled by the question briefly before stating the obvious answer. "We make peace, duh."

At this Oobleck made an affirmative noise and began pacing, his arm bending and his finger pointing at the ceiling as he walked. "That would seem to be the logical choice. Then, as negotiations are moving along, a snag occurs. You offend one of the White Fang leadership due to your lack of knowledge of their culture and historical struggle. As a result, negotiations are broken apart and the war continues with even more vigor, and more lives are lost. In a desperate attempt to reach peace before more of innocent Vale lives are lost, you try and reach out to the White Fang to reopen negotiations. They respond with they will continue talks if you can acknowledge the real reason this war is being fought. What is your reply?"

Yang was holding her head as if it were about to explode with a confused look on her face. Maybe she should have paid a little more attention in class? "I, umm… because they are discriminated against or something?"

Oobleck shook his head at her lackluster answer, though not surprised in the slightest. "And communications are once again slashed and the war continues as the death toll raises."

This time Yang jumped out of her seat and slammed her fists on the desk. "Oh come on! That's not fair! I'm not dumb, the Faunus have been discriminated against since forever, and it's why all those battles were fought and why the White Fang exists today. Why is my answer wrong here?"

Oobleck gave her a sharp look but was at least happy that she was engaged in the mental exercise, he had half expected her to give up right away. "Because you lack clarity in the issue. You do not understand their perspective and it shows. The Fringe Rebellion was due to the enslavement of the Faunus and their desire to be treated like regular people and not property. Once they won that they were meant to be free but the world was not what they thought it would be. They were returned to a role of servitude under a new legal definition known as indentured servitude. This slightly weaker form of slavery led to the Faunus Rights Revolution and many lives were lost. But even still the Faunus are discriminated against to this day. Most Faunus live in poverty and rarely can live normal lives without the threat of being beaten, robbed, harassed and even killed. This is the cause for the creation of the White Fang who continue to fight for this cause, though their methods make it hard to support them. This is not the same life that you and I live where our mere species doesn't determine what opportunities and what we can expect from this world is. As humans, we cannot fully understand what they go through, though we may be able to glean insight from the past that could help us understand some of the context."

Oobleck gave Naruto and Yang a few moments to absorb his words before he asked Yang is a quieter voice then what they were used to hearing in his lectures. "Tell me Yang, what do the Faunus feel from this discrimination that would cause them to go to war and lose their lives and kill? What compels them to do this?"

Yang had lost the fire she had previously as she slumped back in her seat. The depth of this question wasn't something she was prepared to answer. How could she? Luckily for her, she wasn't the one to answer, it was Naruto.

"The pain of being outcast. The ridicule, the murmurs, the looks of distrust. The feeling of being hated for nothing, the emotional torture of being told you aren't human. It builds in you, day in, day out. You aren't one of them, you aren't important. Your life matters less because you're a lesser being. You can't be anything more than a monster, a killer, a tool…"

Naruto wasn't looking at either Oobleck or Yang as he talked. He wasn't even talking about the Faunus. His life before he had truly established himself as a shinobi was anything but kind. Created as a weapon out of necessity and left to the cruelties of the ignorant masses left a hateful ball in the pit of his stomach that he had tried to bury but could never fully extinguish.

"It builds in you until there is nothing left but hatred and rage. You either bow your head or lash out at those that wronged you. It's a suffocating feelings, like you're underwater and no matter how hard you try, you simply can't get above the water. The hate is too strong."

And for Naruto it was nearly impossible. If not a very small select people in his life he would have given into the hate and rage. So many times he had been on the brink only to be pulled back by his most precious people.

Yang looked over at Naruto with a confused look on her face with a bit of worry. The way he spoke, the emotion that was held in his voice, it was almost like he was speaking from experience. But that was impossible wasn't it? He was human just like her, just like almost everyone here at Beacon.

Oobleck pushed up his glasses and mentally stored away Naruto's response for later. Either Naruto was truly the world's most skilled actor or he was the real McCoy in this sense. You couldn't fake emotion or such an in depth understanding of the Faunus situation if you tried. "Yes, that is the type of understanding that would be key in attempting to negotiate with the leaders of the White Fang. While combat is the primary focus of being a Hunter/Huntress, it is not the only facet of you job. Please keep in mind that your job is as a peacekeeper above all else. If you can avoid battle between people then you should do so at all costs. Does this make sense to you Yang?"

Yang gave Oobleck a quieted nod to which he acknowledged. "Good, now hopefully you both will take these classes more seriously since neither of you have been doing particularly well. You more so then anyone Naruto. I've never seen anyone get 70% so consistently before. You are more than capable of excelling in this course, I do hope you take this more seriously in the future. As a way for both of you to improve, I will be assigning an extra five page essay on the struggle of the Faunus during the time of the Fringe Rebellion and how it connects to the Faunus Rights Revolution due in the next week. Now you are free to meet up in any teenage romantic encounter or whatever you two were about to engage in."

Naruto and Yang went from being outraged at the added workload to being embarrassed in the span of seconds. Oobleck on the other hand didn't entertain them anymore at that point as he left the room.

Naruto looked over at Yang and averted his eyes. There was no way that was why she threw him that note, could there? He had only been here a few weeks and this was literally the first time they had even directly communicated with her, it made zero logical sense.

With Naruto lost in his mind over what Oobleck said, he failed to notice Yang plop down next to him. Clearly still out of it, Yang started waving her hand in front of his face to get his attention. "Hellooooo, earth to Naruto, you in there?"

Naruto all but jumped out of his seat at the sound of her voice, he really must have been out of it if he didn't notice her approach. "Oh, right, sorry Yang."

Yang saw the tint of his cheeks and her smile grew as she moved only the slightest bit closer, which was rather close since she was already in the seat next to him. "And just what were you thinking about so intently?"

Naruto leaned back slightly as she started inching herself closer as she batted her eye lashes. Oh Kami he wasn't ready for this. Of all the things that she might have wanted this did not even enter his mind. His mind blanked as he tried to form a sentence to off put the situation. "I, uh, umm…"

Yang moved closer still as her lilac colored eyes stared intently into Naruto's ocean blue. "Were you by chance thinking of little ol' me?"

Naruto gulped and kept leaning back as they were nearly touching now. Right before contact, Naruto's hand slipped on his desk stool and sent him crashing to the floor as the amount of force he was putting on it suddenly vanished. While the crash was loud and Naruto cursed to himself it was all but drowned out as Yang's laughter rang out throughout the classroom.

Naruto grumbled to himself as he finally sorted himself out and noticed a hand in front of his face. With a moment's hesitation, Naruto reached out and clasped the hand and pulled himself up to a standing position.

Yang was doing all she could to stop herself from laughing relentlessly at Naruto's reaction but was failing horribly. "Haha- I'm sorry its jus-hahaha oh my god your fac-hahaha."

Naruto just stared at her with an unamused look on his face as she controlled herself. He was no stranger to the occasional prank and he could without a doubt say she had got him good. He never even saw it coming it was so good. He could respect the well-executed prank but come hell or high water he would get the last laugh. "Are you done?"

Yang let a few more giggles slip out of her throat before she straightened herself up. "Yeah, I'm done."

Naruto sighed as he hopped up and sat on the row of desks behind him, his legs swinging freely beneath him as he looked at the mischievous girl. "Seriously though, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Surprisingly for Naruto, Yang actually responded with a serious answer. "To be honest Oobleck wasn't that far off, he just had the wrong girl. I'm going to put it bluntly, I think Blake likes you!"

Naruto gave her a deadpan expression when he realized that she meant what she said. Naruto knew that Yang wasn't the smartest girl in the school but this was a little sad. Blake felt anything but affection for him, that much he was certain of. "Are we thinking of the same Blake? Black hair, pretty but fierce amber eyes? Takes to staring at people instead of talking to them?"

Yang grinned at Naruto's description of her teammate as she managed to latch onto only one thing. "So you think she's pretty huh?"

Naruto felt like face palming but refrained from it and decided to explain himself instead. "That's not what you should be focusing on. There is zero chance that she likes me. The only interaction that I've had with her is her staring at me angrily. I highly doubt that _that_ is a sign that she likes me."

This time Yang got up from her stool and jumped up to sit with Naruto on the desk and wrap an arm around his shoulder. "Yes but I know things you do not, privilege of being on her team. Out of everyone at Beacon _you_ are the only one she's ever asked about. And you're the only person that makes her hesitate to talk to. Trust me, I know these things. She definitely likes you."

Naruto raised a speculative eyebrow at the girl while trying to keep his blush down at the close proximity with the busty blonde girl. Even with all 17 years of his life he still hadn't had much pleasant contact with the fairer sex. "I think you're jumping to some farfetched conclusions here Yang, I don't think she likes me."

This time Yang gave Naruto a predatory like grin while gaining a glint in her eyes. "Hmm, maybe. But if you don't go ask her out today I'm going to tell her you like her."

Naruto all but fell over again at Yang's statement. This woman was pure evil from a prankster perspective. How could she even joke about something like that! "That is not true! I've said nothing of the sort!"

Naruto saw the shit eating grin Yang had on her face as she let Naruto go of her grip and jumped off the desk. "You said she was pretty, good enough for me. Remember, end of the day."

Naruto tried to call out to her to stop but she had already made it out of the room. "But I didn't even say that…" It came out as a whisper that no one could hear except Naruto himself. With a few minutes to himself Naruto reran the conversation in his head and screamed in frustration. How did this even happened? He let out an audible growl as he marched out of the room, this wouldn't be the end of this Yang Xiao Long.

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy: Cafeteria)_

Naruto walked through the cafeteria in his standard workout clothes that he had been allotted by Ozpin. After lunch he was scheduled to report to Goodwitch's combat class, something that he hated going to since he had absolutely no interest in learning how to fight according to their mock battle rules.

Scanning the room, he saw Yang and Blake walking together as they moved through the crowd. He really hated Yang today but he also didn't want any more rumors starting thanks to a little blonde trickster. If he was going to make his move he would have to do it now before they got into their full group. Hopefully he could just get things cleared up with Blake and get Yang off his back.

Quickening his pace, Naruto easily caught up to the two girls who noticed him right away. Blake gave Naruto a surprised look while Yang's teasing grin came out full force. "Oh Naruto, what a surprise. What are you doing here?"

Naruto gave her a stare that could melt steel with its intensity before he stopped himself from saying a smart remark in her direction. Now wasn't the time or place. "Umm, nothing really. I was hoping that Blake would come and talk with me for a bit. Do you mind?"

Blake gave Naruto a suspicious look before shaking her head no. "I don't think so. We need to meet our teammates for a meeting."

Ouch, that was cold but completely expected by Naruto. Unfortunately for the blond shinobi, Yang would not be deterred so easily. "Oh come on Blake, don't be like that. It isn't every day that a cute boy asks you out. Don't be like Weiss, go have some fun. I'll cover for you with Ruby and Weiss."

Before Blake could turn down her partner as well, Yang whispered in her ear. "If you don't go with him for at least lunch I'm going to show Ruby and Weiss that book you keep in your bottom shelf."

Blake's eyes widened momentarily before she turned back to Naruto reluctantly. When had Yang even found that…? "I suppose I'm free for a little bit, where did you want to go?"

Naruto had no idea what Yang had whispered to Blake but it was obvious that the girl was blackmailing her. Even so, Naruto didn't actually think it would get this far. "I umm, there's a bench and table over in the courtyard that's pretty empty, we can go there."

Blake begrudgingly agreed and started to walk with Naruto while shooting Yang a hate filled glare over her shoulder. They walked in relative awkward silence the entire time. They finally decided to stop at an empty table that was fairly secluded from the rest of the student body. Naruto sat down and watched as Blake did the same, adjusting her black and white combat clothes as she sat down.

Naruto didn't really know how to start the conversation as he really didn't even want to be here to begin with. It didn't help at all that Blake's overall demeanor screamed leave her alone. So instead of talking the two merely ate in silence.

Minutes passed and nothing was said and it was starting to wear on both of their nerves. Blake was the first to snap as he put down her fork with a little more force than necessary and looked Naruto dead in the eye. "If you aren't even going to talk then why did you bother to call me out here?"

Naruto put down his own food in response and sighed. Yep, that was basically how he figured this would go. Well, he really didn't have a reason other than what Yang had told him so he would have to go with that. "Honestly? I only did it because Yang told me that you liked me."

Naruto could all but hear the gears grinding to a halt in Blake's head as her eyes flashed through a range of emotions, most of them negative. While it was amusing to see the girl freak out internally, Naruto wasn't exactly sure she was ok. "Umm, Blake? You ok?"

The sound of Naruto's voice broke Blake out of her thoughts and shook her head and stood up quickly and grabbed her lunch. "I'm sorry to tell you that Yang was misinformed, I don't feel that way in the slightest. I'm sorry."

Naruto felt relief as he saw her prepare to go. He was free but something was still nagging him in the back of his mind. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut and this entire awkward situation would be over. Too bad he just couldn't help himself and opened his mouth. "Wait, now that you're here I have to ask, why do you suddenly hate me? When we first talked you seemed so nice and now you only glare at me, what gives?"

Blake set her lunch back down on the table but remained standing as she contemplated her answer. Eventually she settled her cat like eyes on Naruto and spoke. "What did you think would happen after you said what you did? I'm not from Vale, I haven't met anyone besides the Head Master up to that point and then you say I'm not what you expected me to be. You obviously knew me before I came up to you. How do you know me!?"

And everything became crystal clear to Naruto. That one little slip up apparently hadn't gone unnoticed. She was far more attentive than he gave her credit for. With Ozpin's little hint, Naruto had deduced that Blake was a Faunus but had also been a part of the White Fang. Of course she would be suspicious if he said he knew her.

To be fair, it wasn't only Ozpin's hint. Naruto had done some digging in the student files to read up on some of the more interesting people he had met the first day. Was it an invasion of privacy? Probably but only if he let them know about it. After going through all of them Blake's was certainly the most interesting.

Former member of the White Fang, far enough up the ladder that she was doing missions for the leaders of the White Fang personally. She had left for personal disagreement with some of their more violent tactics and hadn't heard from them since.

With that kind of background Naruto could understand the instant distrust.

Now Naruto could easily clear this up by explaining that Ozpin had told him that they had similar pasts. On the other hand he could have some fun with the girl and mess with her a little bit. He didn't know what compelled him to pick the second option, maybe it was Yang awakening his inner prankster but whatever the reason, Naruto decided to act on his desire. "Let me answer with a different question. How long has it been since you left the White Fang?"

Naruto gave her a cocky smirk as shock washed over her face. Blake on the other hand read the smirk in a completely different way and her eyes narrowed into a determined fierceness that Naruto had only seen on shinobi back in the war.

With a motion so quick it caught Naruto off guard, Blake stomped on the edge of the table and then kicked the top of the table as hard as she could at Naruto. Regaining his balance nearly instantly, Naruto braced his shoulder against the back of the table and planted his feet into the ground but still slid across the ground due to the amount of force that Blake had kicked it with.

With barely a second to process what had happened, Naruto had to quickly move his head to the side as the only warning he had of an attack was the tip of Blake's sword splintering the wood of the table as she plunged it through. Like a hot knife through butter, Blake's sword went straight through the wood, mere inches from Naruto's face.

Sensing another attack coming, Naruto began jumping backwards to avoid what was to come. Not to disappoint, another attack did come as Blake brought her large sword upwards, shattering the table while she had used the cover of the table to unsheathe her hidden blade and brought it up in a slashing motion as she spun through the first attack.

Naruto just barely managed to avoid the hidden blade as it managed to take a few strands of his bangs from his head. Naruto moved backwards quickly to gain as much distance between him and the insanely quick female that was hell bent on eviscerating him. Those attacks weren't of the same set that he had seen Blake use during those mock battles taught in Goodwitch's class. Those strikes were precise and meant to do only one thing, kill.

Naruto carefully examined the girl as she stood at her full height with both of her blades in her hands. Naruto felt really stupid right about now. He had forgot that the only true way to leave the White Fang was through death and while Blake had managed to skip that portion while leaving, he should have known that the fear of someone coming to finish the job would always be present in her mind. He really didn't want to fight her in a death battle. "Wait Blake, it's not what you think!"

Either the girl didn't hear Naruto or didn't believe him as her stance remained rigid. "I thought that he wasn't going to come after me. After everything we had together, I truly thought he would leave me alone. But to attack me all the way at Beacon, I never thought he would be so bold. I can't believe he sent someone else to do it, I thought I meant more to you Adam!"

Naruto wasn't sure who Adam was but right now it really didn't matter as Blake put the sheath blade on her back and her sword quickly transformed into some pistol-scythe connected to a really long ribbon. Without any more talk Blake charged Naruto, leading with her bladed pistol as she whipped it at him.

Reacting on instinct, Naruto leapt to the side to avoid the initial attack only to curse to himself and drop to the ground as the gun went off, sending a bullet in his direction before the pistol-scythe whipped back to her and she launched it at him again.

Not having any of his weapons due to losing them when he first arrived, Naruto was at an extreme disadvantaged in this fight. Blake was fast, even by shinobi standards and her skill with her strange weapon was top notch. The combination of having to dodge the bladed weapon followed by needing to immediately change direction to avoid her projectile was nearly impossible as her pattern of attack continuously changed.

Leaping back once more, Naruto prepared himself as another assault of attacks came his way by the enraged Faunus. Naruto idly noticed that Blake's attacks were as swift as they were deadly as he narrowly dodged another flurry of attacks that Blake executed mid-air when she flipped over him.

Naruto counted at least five different whipped attacks in that one motion and grunted as he nursed a cut on his arm from one of the bullets that grazed him. She was skilled and in her mind, fighting for her life. If they stayed in the open for too long she was going to either overwhelm him or force him to return her deadly force in kind.

He needed to limit her ability to attack from all directions with that stupid whip-scythe-gun contraption, he needed to lure her into an enclosed area.

Back flipping away from another barrage of attacks, Naruto formed a sealess shadow clone which instantly transformed into a windmill shuriken. Naruto grabbed onto the center of the quad bladed weapon and threw it as hard has he could at the feline Huntress in training.

Finally seeing a counter attack, Blake brought her weapon back to her hand and rattled off several shots at the fast moving projectile. The bullets didn't seem to even bother it as its direction remained unchanged. Realizing it was futile, Blake swiftly grabbed her sheath on her back and sliced through the giant shuriken. But instead of splintered metal like she was expecting, the weapon exploded into white smoke.

Blake coughed as she tried to dissipate the smoke as clearly as possible. Fear gripped her when the smoke cleared and Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw a shimmer of movement headed towards the forest. Her eyes narrowed on the spot and she took off in a dead sprint, determined to not let him escape her.

She had worked too hard and gotten too far to let everything slip away from her in a few minutes because Adam had finally decided to finish her off for her betrayal. She would not let him escape.

Blake all but flew into the forest and landed in a small clearing of trees and took in her surroundings. This part of the forest was thick with foliage and trees. If she tried to use her weapon in here it would just get tangled in with the branches and vines. He had lured her here on purpose to limit her fighting ability.

She cursed herself for her lack of judgement but brushed it off. There was nothing she could do about it now except adjust her fighting style to the surroundings. Her gun-scythe quickly unfolded itself and returned to its sword form as Blake reached onto her back and grabbed ahold of her sheathe blade.

"Where are you?! Come out and fight me!" Blake yelled into the seemingly empty forest.

"Why would I do that? You seem to want to kill me."

Blake looked to her right where she heard the voice but saw nothing, great he was throwing his voice around.

"I really don't want to fight you, can't we just talk this over?"

This time it came from her left and Blake cursed, what an annoying opponent. "The White Fang doesn't talk, not anymore. Now come out!"

Her commanding tone did little to persuade Naruto as his voice came from above her. "You aren't the only one that doesn't like what the White Fang is doing. I left too!"

That gave Blake pause as her bravado slipped away from her for the briefest of moments before she regained it. "You're lying! The White Fang doesn't let you just walk away!"

"I guess we can't talk until I prove it to you, maybe after you put down those swords we can talk some."

Blake tensed at his words as Naruto rushed her. But it wasn't only one Naruto, from the left, right and even above her Naruto came at her. More than a dozen clones rushed the girl simultaneously. Blake had no idea what was happening, she only reacted to how she normally would when outnumbered.

In a blur of motion, Blake exterminated each and every single clone that Naruto had sent at her, their deaths being signified by a white plume of smoke. Blake took a quick breath before she sensed the next attack. Though it was a little too late as Naruto was already inside her defense with his fist extended.

At least he would have been in her defense if it wasn't for her semblance. Naruto's fist felt like it connected with her cheek but just as it did Blake appeared above him, an ice replica with his fist incased in her head appeared in her stead. Unable to move due to the fist being trapped in the ice, Blake was able to capitalize on a truly vulnerable Naruto.

Blake didn't let the chance pass her by and brought her leg up and delivered a ruthless roundhouse kick to his chin. The force of the attack sent Naruto flying, shattering his ice prison in the process.

Naruto rolled with the attack until he came to a stop several feet later. Slowly getting to his feet, he wiped the blood that was now leaking from his busted lip away and glared at the mysterious Faunus. That ability… it must have been her semblance that he had read about. What a useful ability.

Still, that kick would have knocked him out if he hadn't entered Sage Mode while his clones had kept her busy. To think that she still rattled his brain even after the added defense that Sage Mode offered was scary, Blake wasn't like some of the other students at Beacon, she was the real deal.

Blake smirked at Naruto as he rubbed his jaw. "Looks like our semblances are similar. To think that someone else could create shadows of themselves. Though mine seem to be a bit better."

Not rising to the bait, Naruto carefully analyzed the extent of her ability. So she could create a clone of herself that acted like a substitute for any attack she would normally take. Annoying but not impossible to work around.

Without warning, Naruto raised his hands in his signature hand sign and two dozen clones sprang to life, all of them charging the Faunus hoping to create an opening. Blake let an annoyed look cross her face before she too charged the small horde of blonds.

In a beautiful display of skill and agility, Blake cut through the droves of clones that came at her relentlessly. Their numbers were impressive but they lacked any semblance of durability as with every stroke of her sword another clone disappeared in a plume of smoke. "Do you really think you can overcome me by sheer numbers!? Adam must not have told you anything about me!"

Well neither had Ozpin and right now Naruto was definitely regretting not asking the man for some more details about the girl. Still, Naruto had watched her long enough to begin to see a pattern in her movements, there were plenty of openings if he just timed this right.

As Blake cut down another of Naruto's clones, another blond dropped down from above her, his fist cocked back as he aimed for the back of her head.

Much like the cat she resembled, her reflexes were more than up to the task in allowing her to spin around swiftly and impale the falling blond. But to her surprise this Naruto exploded in a mess of smoke like the others. She was sure that had been the real Naruto.

Unfortunately she had guessed wrong and was left wide open for the real Naruto to attack her from behind. Seeing him just before it was too late, Blake spun on her heel and brought both of her blades across his chest in a horizontal motion.

Naruto groaned as he saw the attack coming. He had really hoped that she would have been distracted long enough to miss his real attack but she was far too quick. But for all her strength, skill and speed she just wasn't at his level. Before she had caught him off guard with her speed and ferocity but with the gained clarity of Sage Mode she may as well have been moving in slow motion at this range.

Naruto reached out with both his hands and grabbed a hold of both of her swords, his fingers clamping down on the flat parts of the weapons. Wide eyed and fear returning to her features, Blake tried to wrench her weapons from Naruto's death grip but failed. Naruto on the other hand had little trouble ridding the girl of her grip and spun on his heel, spinning the girl in a circle until she lost her grip and was sent flying.

Naruto didn't waste a moment and dropped both the swords to the ground and leapt after the falling girl. As soon as she hit the ground he was on top of her, his feet firmly planted on her hands while he sat on the center of her stomach, removing any ability for her to gather strength from her core muscles.

Naruto didn't say anything as the Faunus struggled beneath his weight. He needed her calm if she was going to listen to him and right now she resembled something more akin to a trapped animal than a rational person. After a few minutes Blake's struggles stopped and was replaced by heavy breathing as her physical limits finally caught up to her now that she stopped moving. "Are you done?"

Blake glared up at her captor angrily while still panting. Her eyes locked with Naruto's now animal like eyes and things became clearer to her. She thought he was a Faunus the first time she saw him. He was so good at hiding it though that over the last few weeks she almost doubted her own intuition. But now, looking at his animal like eyes, eyes that so closely resemble her own, there wasn't a doubt in her mind. "I'm done. Go ahead and finish me off. Just be sure to tell Adam that he can go to hell, I don't feel anything for that bastard anymore."

Naruto still didn't know who Adam was but he could only assume it was someone in the hierarchy of the organization. Someone that Blake was quite close to before she left. But even though she said she hated him it was clear as day to Naruto that she was lying. It was hard to tell through the tears of frustration but telling people's true emotions was something he had picked up over the years, more so than ever after he had gained control of the Nine-Tails' power.

Seeing Blake with her eyes closed and tears silently falling from her face put a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach and he slowly lifted himself off of her and extended his hand to help her up. No longer feeling Naruto's crushing weight on top of her, Blake risked a look and cracked one of her eyes open to find Naruto holding out a hand with an apologetic smile on her face.

Disbelief rested on her face as she stared at the appendage, not understanding quite what was happening. "What?"

Naruto smiled at the downed girl while keeping his hand out. "I told you, I didn't want to fight you, I left the White Fang too."

Still not fully believing Naruto, Blake hesitantly reached out and clasped onto Naruto's hand and was quickly pulled to her feet. "But I don't understand. Someone with your skills, there's no way that they would just let you go."

Naruto walked towards Blake's fallen weapons and picked them up before examining them and quickly sheathing the smaller blade within the large one. "And they didn't. After a few of the people they sent after me never came back they must have figured it wasn't worth it anymore."

Blake still wasn't convinced however. "But I've been a member of the White Fang since I was born, I definitely wouldn't have missed someone like you within the organization."

Naruto sighed as he turned around to face the cat Faunus before he responded. "I wasn't one to make myself stand out back then but when you left, Adam started searching for someone to replace you in the field. He ran across me and thought I had what it took to do your job."

Naruto was taking a chance here. There was no going back if he fully committed to the back story of being a high risk terrorist. Unfortunately he had little choice in the matter because if he changed his story now then Ozpin would probably never trust him. Hopefully his consistency didn't come back to bite him in the ass one day.

Blake delicately took her weapons from Naruto's outstretched hand and put them back in their rightful place on her back. "Then why did you leave? I knew there were a lot of people that were jealous of my position and would have killed for it. Why give it up?"

Naruto moved over to a large log sitting on the forest floor and took a seat on it to which Blake follow suit. "I joined the White Fang because I was sick of the feeling of being hated by the humans. The hatred, the stares, the abuse, everything. It wasn't fair. It ate at me until I felt the need to do something about it. But then I started doing raids with Adam. He was ruthless, taking down anyone, guilty or innocent, it didn't matter as long as they were human. I joined the White Fang to fight against those that did us wrong, not to kill innocents that were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Naruto wasn't a Faunus but he could relate to them. The feeling of being less than human due to the circumstances of one's birth was something he was all too familiar with. And he certainly could understand fighting for his side of a conflict and questioning his actions. The war had made him do things he never thought he would be forced to do.

One event in particular had come to the forefront of his mind. The Akatsuki had captured a small fishing town near the Hidden Mist village and since he was stationed there at the time, he was ordered to wipe it out. It had become known relatively early in the war that they were using living sacrifices to bring back powerful dead shinobi. To prevent the small village of 100 to become dangerous enemies, Naruto was ordered to wipe out everyone there with a Tail Beast Bomb. In the end he did it and no one survived, enemy or friendly alike. It was the first time in the war that he questioned what they were truly fighting for.

He hated himself for weeks for what he had to do. Every justification that was given to him couldn't weigh down the guilt of massacring the non-combatants in that village. And it much applied to what the White Fang were doing today. Naruto had no delusion that if he was born in this world he would have sided with the White Fang over Faunus rights but their methods made his stomach churn. The killing of innocents was never acceptable in his eyes.

So even if his words weren't completely the truth, the emotion that he spoke with were real. That was something that Blake picked up on and her eyes softened in understanding. The pain in his eyes was real. He really was like her. Unsure of herself, Blake tentatively put a hand on his shoulder to try and give some level of comfort, even if she wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. "I know how you feel. It was the same reason that I ended up leaving. And I'm sorry for attacking you so suddenly but I think you know why I was so jumpy."

Naruto looked at her hand before he moved to her face. It was kind, much like the one he had seen the first day he had met her. He felt the protective power of nature leave his body as he was sure that he no longer needed its power. "Don't worry about it, I probably shouldn't have tried to mess with you over something so sensitive. It was my fault."

Naruto's chuckled ended up getting a giggle out of the girl next to him before he noticed the changing of his eye color. "Why do you do that? Why do you hide your eyes from everyone?"

Naruto smiled as he reached over and carefully pinched one of the two knobs poking out of Blake's head. "The same reason why you hide these cute little cat ears of yours."

Blake blushed furiously as Naruto touched her exposed ears. She quickly jumped up and started looking around the field frantically in search for her bow. "I didn't even notice that it had fallen off! Where is it? Where is it?"

Naruto laughed at the girl until she finally found it and promptly put it back on her head. She turned around and glared at Naruto but lacked the hate she had for him only an hour ago. "Not. One. Word."

Naruto had to stifle a laugh before taking a deep breath to calm down. "You know, we should probably get back, we've been gone for a while. I really don't want Yang to start spreading more rumors."

Blake groaned and put a hand in her face at the thought of her partner. She was going to have some choice words with her when she got back to Beacon. There were some pranks that went too far, this one constituted as too far. "Yeah, we should go."

* * *

 **Alright, I decided to end the chapter here because the next thing I had planned for this story would be too long and the chapter would probably end up being like 15k words or something like that.**

 **Now I know that I had said that I was going to update my other two stories over the weekend/this week and while I did work on them, my mind forced me to keep working on this story when I had time. I just have so many ideas for this story I want to get them out, but rest assured my other stories will be updated in due time. I have no intention of leaving them.**

 **Also on a side note about pairings since many of you have asked. The pairings are undecided but this will not be a harem. Harems to me just aren't realistic except in very limited circumstances. That being said, this also isn't going to be a one and done kind of deal where Naruto finds his dream girl and they stay together for the entirety of the story. People develop crushes, people date, people break up, and people make mistakes. That's how life is and that's what I'm going for in this story.**

 **Leave a review and tell me what you all thought of the chapter. Something I forgot to mention in the last chapter is that this story will be epic in length, so don't expect insanely fast plot movement or all the big events to happen right away. Things will follow a timeline and certain plot points need to build and even the smallest of details will have future consequences. Just so you all know. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, peace!**

 **Quick edit here due to people's issue with the Naruto Blake Fight scene. As always if you have an issue shoot me a PM or leave a review with an account that is logged in as I would be happy to answer your question as long as it isn't a silly flame.**

 **Now for the fight scene, people think that I've made Naruto way too weak and Blake way too strong. I hear you and I apologize for any misunderstanding. Blake may be stronger than what some of you may perceive and I'll admit, I may be buffing the RWBY universe as a whole slightly to make things at least somewhat interesting but I'm not making the characters too much stronger and Blake is certainly not S-rank or even A-rank in the Naruto world.**

 **The fight can be explained as so. Naruto did not want to hurt Blake in any way. That was not his intent and he held back massively as to not hurt her. He didn't attack the girl once throughout the entire fight and to beat someone like that shows that they are an order of magnitude stronger than the person they beat. Blake also got one clean blow on Naruto the entire fight and at best it was a superficial wound. Getting one hit on someone does not make them S-rank so to all those that said as much, take a chill pill and calm down lol.**

 **As for Sage mode, I'm not giving too much away on that front as this is a major plot point. Sage mode is weakened due to influencing forces in Remnant. That's all I'm going to say on that front, so no, Blake didn't break Sage mode with her kick by itself. Calm down everyone lol.**

 **That's all I have to say on that so hopefully it clears the room for anyone reading the story. If you have any thoughts on it or disagree/want clarification, like always, leave a review or send me a PM. I have no problems answering questions, hell, I like them!**


	3. Cold as Ice

**Hey everyone, here with another chapter of this story, I just can't seem to stop but you know what they say, let the good times roll. Like I always say, if you at all disagree with something or want some type of clarification about something that happens within the story, as long as it doesn't ruin the plot, just ask in a review or PM and I'll gladly answer it for you.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own either Naruto or RWBY, hell, I don't even own my college degree until I pay off my student loans and I've spent the majority of my life working towards that thing. That's kind of a depressing thought when I think about it…**

* * *

Chapter 3: Cold as Ice

 _(Beacon Academy: Naruto's Room)_

Naruto splashed cold water on his face and rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up. Opening his eyes, he groaned as he looked at himself. He had a restless sleep last night and it showed, the bags under his eyes were more pronounced than any time he could think of in recent history.

His mind was preoccupied with the day before and his encounter with Blake, the sole Faunus on team RWBY. All things considered it went as well as he could have hoped, minus the whole being attacked part.

He had got what he wanted out of her regardless though, firmly digging himself in his web of lies that he had woven over the last month. Blake was the most important piece in bringing everything together in a nice tight bow. If Blake didn't believe his story of being a former member of the White Fang then everything he had built with Ozpin and the rest of the hunters/huntresses at Beacon would have been for nothing. With a not so small bit of luck, the seeds of suspicion that he inadvertently planted in the girl on day one bloomed full force and she had convinced herself more than anything else, all he had to do was follow her train of thought.

It still left a sour taste in his mouth needing to lie to everyone in such a spectacular fashion. From what he could tell these were good people, the students more than anyone else. They were bright eyed and eager to do what they thought was a good in the world and for all intents and purposes it was. Even the hunters and huntresses at the school seemed to be good people, with the exception of Goodwitch who seemed to have an ever growing hatred of him.

Sour taste or not didn't matter unfortunately, what he was doing was out of necessity. He needed to return to his world and end the war before more people were caught up in the crossfire. If people thought he was crazy the chance of being able to move around freely would be zero. Granted he could just force his way out since he had yet to meet anyone even close to the S-rank of his world, but he would rather not leave a trail of corpses in his wake. That wasn't the kind of person he was.

Moving on with that thought, Naruto rubbed his lip where Blake had kicked him yesterday. The wound itself was fully healed and didn't leave a mark and was superficial at best during the fight but still, Naruto couldn't believe that she had actually hurt him after entering Sage mode.

Blake was strong, way stronger than he had given her credit for. The ferocity and ruthless way she came at him coupled with her speed and agility made for quite the surprise. That also wasn't even taking into account that her weapon wasn't like anything he had ever seen before. And with her special ability, her semblance, the girl just kept surprising him. It ashamed him to admit it but she had legitimately caught him flat footed during that fight.

From everything he had read about this world and the wars they had waged, the combatants always seemed to fight in straight forward battles, their abilities complementing this direct type of confrontations. Blake didn't fight like that, she fought more akin to a shinobi if he had to be honest. Misdirection, distractions, sleight of hand, she used all of them in a manner that would make some shinobi proud. If he had to place her after what he saw, he would say that she was definitely Chunin in rank, pushing Jounin if she kept improving over the next few years. It wasn't surprising either given her background of being raised in a terrorist organization where she had been fighting on the front lines for years.

In all honesty he just wasn't expecting her to fight in such a manner, which of course had the unintended effect of her surprising him more times than he would be willing to admit. But that wasn't the only thing that was bothering him. Sure, Blake was fast and stronger than he thought but after he entered Sage mode that shouldn't have been an issue.

The force behind that kick was strong but not strong enough to break through his natural defense granted to him by nature itself. He knew that certain points on the body were naturally weaker than others, the chin and lips being two primary examples of that but he still didn't think that she hit him hard enough to injure even his soft spots.

Something wasn't right, he had taken hits like that in the past and shrugged them off while in Sage mode. During his fight with the Grimm and his fight with Blake he really didn't have a chance to think about it but now with a bit of extra time he could figure it out. Taking a deep breath, Naruto let the power of the planet enter his body.

Looking at himself in the mirror afforded to him by Ozpin, Naruto looked himself up and down but didn't see anything unusual. The marking of a Sage being prominent around his eyes like it always was. Wait, there, in the center of his eyes, what was that? Straining his eyes so he could focus them, Naruto tried to see what had briefly flashed in his eyes. Try as he might he couldn't see what he thought he saw. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him but he could have sworn he saw a small red dot in the middle of his eyes.

The sounding of the school's bell brought Naruto back to reality as his mind was wondering to random places trying to think of what it could have been. He let the power leave him as he quickly finished getting ready so he could leave, he was already late for class and didn't want the professor to ride him any more than they were already going to.

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy)_

Naruto stumbled into the classroom with only a few seconds to spare as it appeared the professor was running a couple minutes behind. This shouldn't have been that surprising considering that Peter Port seemed to run late most days, usually claiming something along the lines of not being as quick as he used to be in his prime.

Naruto scanned the room and found one of the few people he had actually held a few conversations with giving him a small wave, giving him a not so hidden hint as to take the empty seat next to her. He made his way over to Blake who was situated with the rest of her team minus Yang.

As he took the empty chair next to the black haired Faunus, he was about to ask her where Yang was until he remembered what he had done last night. With the fruitless sleep last night he had nearly forgotten. Naruto couldn't help but crack a smile at his revenge prank, oh she probably wouldn't be coming to any classes this morning.

"And what has you smiling this early in the morning?"

Naruto regarded Blake and he gave her a knowing smile while he absentmindedly noticed the older professor enter the room. "Oh nothing really, just remembered something funny. So where's Yang?"

Blake gave Naruto a strange look and tried to answer before her team leader interrupted her. "Yang had a little episode this morning, I don't think she'll be coming to class. I'm Ruby by the way, I don't think we've actually met yet. A pleasure to meet you!"

Before Naruto could respond to the eccentric girl with oddly silver eyes, a loud huff came from Ruby's side as a clearly exasperated girl made herself known. "You call that a "little" episode? Yang practically destroyed the entire bathroom. She completely freaked out."

Naruto snickered at hearing Yang's reaction to his revenge prank, he couldn't wait to see the fruits of his labor whenever Yang made herself known. Naruto also didn't ignore the annoyed look that the pretty white haired girl shot him at his laugh. "Oh I'm sorry, did I offend you… umm…"

The girl in question shot him an even glare before she huffed again. "Oh please, don't pretend you don't know who I am. But I'll humor you. Weiss Schnee, heiress of Schnee Dust Company, maybe you've heard of it?"

Naruto internally groaned at her response. He already knew that he wasn't going to like this girl. Her attitude reeked of entitlement that reminded him of a twelve year old Sasuke. Arrogance seemed to be a trait of children from well off families, deserved or otherwise. "Nope, never heard of it."

The indignant look on the girl's face was priceless as the poor thing looked ready to explode if not for being in the middle of a lecture hall. Instead of exploding however, the girl calmed herself and retorted with an icy response. "And who are you exactly? Why are you even sitting by us? No one invited you here."

"Weiss! That's not nice, you have to be more friendly to people. We have a team image to uphold." The youngest girl on team RWBY tried to keep the peace in fear of having Weiss's special type of personality offend anyone, in this case being Naruto.

But before Naruto could come back at the girl Blake interjected. "Actually Weiss, I invited him. His name is Naruto and he's my friend."

Naruto gave Blake a smile at her coming to his defense. Not that it was needed, someone like Weiss could never ruffle him in the slightest with all the practice he got from Sasuke in his youth. But the gesture was definitely appreciated, it was nice to know that he at least had one friend here at Beacon. The way the foundation of that friendship was built being none withstanding.

Weiss didn't respond to that and simply turned away and went back to her notes. Blake on the other hand didn't seem all that interested in the story about the professor's youth that was being told. "Naruto, you seemed to laugh at the mention of Yang freaking out, you wouldn't be the one that pranked her would you?"

Blake knew that Naruto had mentioned getting back at Yang for her little prank on the both of them but she didn't think that it would be so soon. Not to mention the fact that if this was his doing, he went way too far with the prank. If there was one thing that Blake had learned about Yang it was that you do not mess with her hair, under any circumstances.

Naruto just gave Blake a shit eating grin while putting his hands behind his head. "What? Me? How would I possibly be able to sneak into her bathroom in the middle of the night and switch out her shampoo with orange hair dye? That just ridiculous."

This time all three girl's turned and gave him a deadpan stare. It was almost like he didn't understand the severity of his actions and to be fair, he probably didn't. Blake just put a hand in her face and shook her head while Ruby let out a sigh. "You know Yang is going to kill you right? Like I mean she's going to straight up murder you. I don't think I've ever seen her this angry before."

Naruto just shrugged at the girl's apparent concern. Naruto didn't peg Yang to be the one to respond violently over a prank. If anything from what he had seen she would come back at him with an even better prank. Naruto was actually looking forward to seeing what she could come up with, it had been awhile since he had a challenge that didn't involve him risking his life. "Meh, I can take anything she throws at me."

Ruby gave Naruto a doubtful look but decided to keep her thoughts to herself. Seeing the conversation die Naruto redirected his attention to the professor who was still rumbling on about the adventures of his youth. Naruto couldn't have cared less as it seemed to be the same thing that he would hear back home from the old war hawks that would reminisce about the Third Shinobi World War.

Those old bats always glorified the battles that they would tell to the younger generation. Making it appear that war and battle was simply a way to be recognized by your village as a suitable fighter and of someone that deserved respect. Even he had been caught up in the romanticism of it all when he was younger. Sadly that was killed the moment he had stepped on the battle field.

War was brutal. People died and lives were lost and all the justifications in the world didn't help when you had to return home and tell a friend's family that they weren't coming home. The look in their eyes, the tears that stained their face, it was haunting and something that was far too often of an occurrence. He felt like such a fool to buy into the romanticism of it all when he was younger.

But it was necessary. No one wanted to go into the shinobi profession thinking that they would become the bad guy. No one wanted to think that they would be the one that didn't make it back. How could you? If you went into battle thinking you weren't going to make it out it would paralyze all but the most battle hardened of veterans. If you wanted to recruit and train young students you needed to have a positive outlook on the job for both them and their parents.

With the way that his world was constructed, if you didn't train shinobi at a young age that would be the end of the village, no questions asked. It was a grim reality and one that every shinobi understood once they stepped foot into the real world. No one joined the shinobi forces once they were old enough to understand the full ramifications of what that life style would entail. You would have to be suicidal to do that. There was also the fact that you would be at a huge disadvantage in the ability and chakra department but that was neither here nor there.

As a result, battle and war was glorified to entice the young children to become warriors. The only reason why the parents allowed their children to enter this violent profession was usually because they were shinobi themselves and fully understand the unfortunate need of having shinobi start training before they can grasp what is to be expected of them. There was a reason that the majority of shinobi came from well-established clans, those families knew of the danger and the necessity of the world. Those born to civilian families have seen the damage caused by the wars but don't see the necessity due to not being directly tied to the shinobi forces, thus they stay away from it.

Remnant in a lot of ways was similar to his world. The students have been in training schools for years and then if they show promise they are sent off to a type of graduate school to further hone their skills before they are sent off into the field.

Naruto had fought Grimm, hundreds of Grimm. He wasn't within the protective care of school administrators or seasoned veterans who would watch over him in case something went wrong. Out there, beyond the protective walls of Vale, it was kill or be killed. The Grimm were vicious, relentless and without care for any physical harm that may come to them.

There was no way that anyone in these classes knew exactly what was out there waiting for them once they graduated. Even more so when they first signed up to undertake this profession. Barring a few exceptions, Naruto doubted anyone here had been in a true life and death battle where they were pushed to their absolute limits.

It showed in their studies and it really showed in their sparring matches. What they were learning was nothing more than a type of combat sport. What they were learning wasn't going to help them when they were out on missions. What would they do when their backs were up against the wall and facing down an endless swarm of Grimm? Check their Aura levels to see if they were in the red? Utterly ridiculous.

Perhaps Naruto was being more critical than he should have been considering they were still technically freshmen at this academy. But even so, he had seen the horror of war, he had lived it. If anyone could be critical of how students were taught how to survive on the battle field it was him. Truth be told he hadn't been prepared for shinobi life either. If it wasn't for a huge amount of luck and a little bit of skill he would have died on his very first mission outside the village. He didn't want that to be the same for anyone else, not everyone had the devil's luck like he did.

More than anyone else he knew what it was like to be the one to tell a friend someone wasn't coming home. He had also been the one to receive that talk. Naruto shut his eyes as his mind wandered to that night. His dreams drudging up the unwanted memories.

* * *

 _(Fire Country Battlefield)_

 _Naruto finished cleaning the trench knives that Shikamaru had given him a year ago. A memento of his friend's late teacher that he had been given because he could use them more effectively than anyone else. At least that's what Shikamaru told him when he had given them to him._

 _The trench knives were special in the fact that they were designed with the thought of channeling wind style chakra in the most effective manner. Wind specialists were a rarity and high level ones more so. Of the ones that existed, many of them already had a type of specialized weapon that they used so giving them to anyone else was pointless._

 _Naruto on the other hand never developed a weapon set for his own use, favoring the more common shuriken and kunai blades when he wasn't using his techniques or fists. Considering the similarity between Naruto's weapons and the trench knives Shikamaru ventured that it wouldn't be too difficult for Naruto to incorporate them into his fighting style._

 _As per usual, Shikamaru was right. It took little effort for Naruto to get used to the light weight weapons and with his mastery of wind chakra they became invaluable tools on the battlefield. Looking at the blades, Naruto thought back to when Asuma had instructed him on using wind chakra. While never officially his teacher, the helpful hints before the man had passed certainly came in handy when getting used to using weaponized wind in different fashions. Sure, throwing a wind enhanced rasengan did wonders to clear out a group of enemies but he couldn't always rely on landscape changing techniques with allies around. It was good to have a less destructive form of fighting, something these trench knives provided._

 _The fluttering of his tent flap and the soft patters of the rain against the cold November ground brought Naruto out of his thoughts as he turned around to see his long time teammate standing at the entrance of his tent. If it wasn't for the fact that it was raining Naruto would have assumed that the girl had been crying. "Hey Sakura-chan! What are you doing standing in the rain? Come in."_

 _The pinkette did as instructed and moved inside the warm tent. She stood there, unsure of what to say with a pained expression on her face. Naruto saw her uneasiness and set the trench knives down, giving her his full attention. It felt like a rock had been dropped in his stomach as he looked at her there. He had seen that look before, he knew what it meant. "What happened Sakura-chan?"_

 _Despite the softness of his words she still flinched. Looking up at Naruto it was clear that those were in fact tears in her eyes, not just the rain. "The scouting party missed their scheduled check in. We sent a team to investigate and they just reported back."_

 _Naruto felt every muscle in his body tense as he braced himself for the likely next sentence. This couldn't be happening. He knew who's night it was to patrol the borders. There was only one reason that they would send Sakura to tell him this at this hour. "Sakura… what happened?"_

 _Sakura couldn't bring herself to look Naruto in the eyes and turned away, her tears being more pronounced than they were as she stopped trying to hold back. "I'm sorry Naruto. I'm so sorry. She didn't make it back."_

 _Naruto didn't wait to hear what else she had to say as he took off into the camp, sprinting for the medical tents. A mixture of rage and grief nearly overtook him as he ran; he splashed water everywhere as he ran through the rain. It was meant to be a routine mission! The enemy hadn't been spotted anywhere close to here in months! Why did they show up randomly now? Why did they have to attack tonight!?_

 _Naruto burst into the medical tent with a gust of wind, shocking everyone within for the faintest of seconds before they realized who it was. Naruto stood there for a moment scanning the room until he found where they were keeping the bodies of those that had been on the mission. Four white sheets covered the silhouettes of bodies with red stains showing on random spots._

 _Naruto stared wide eyed at one sheet in particular. The form of a young woman, the only thing that distinguished her from the rest were the few strands of lavender hair that stuck out behind the sheets._

" _Naruto!"_

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy)_

"Naruto! Wake up!"

With a snap Naruto shot up and instantly fell back as he was face to face with a rather upset professor Port. "Wh- what?"

Straightening up from his leaning position, Port stared down Naruto in what he could only assume was a fierce look. "Daydreaming in class is not a way to demonstrate your true huntsmen spirit! The time for dreaming is over, now that you are here at Beacon you must take action! Taking the first step as professor Ozpin likes to say! Now tell me, is there anyone here that feels that they have the true spirit of a hunter? Unlike a certain daydreamer we have."

Naruto grumbled to himself at the not so subtle jab that the rounder male gave him. He was a shinobi damnit, not a hunter. If there was ever a case of comparing apples to oranges it was this.

"I have the spirit of a huntress professor Port! Way more than this slacker."

Naruto turned his attention to the white haired girl from team RWBY who was now pointing at him as if she was calling him out. Naruto gave her the stink eye in response to her air of superiority to which she merely huffed and looked away.

"Splendid! That's the type of enthusiasm that I want to see from my future huntresses! Come up here and show the class your overwhelming spirit!"

Naruto watched as the dust heiress flicked her hair behind her and moved to the center of the class. Smug confidence radiated off of her as she prepared herself for whatever test the professor had planned for her.

Naruto examined her stance, rapier kept low yet firmly pointed forwards, her free hand resting just above the revolver portion of her blade. Well practiced but far too rigid. She had the formal training, that was clear as day but she lacked the looseness one gains through experience in the field.

Comparing the form between Weiss and Blake was as easy to see as their choice in preferred color, day and night. While Weiss had been through rigid training to master her technique, Blake had the flowing calm that could only come through years of fighting for ones' life.

"Are you ready my dear? Here it comes!"

The cage was opened to reveal a smallish type of boar like Grimm. If Naruto remembered from the books he was given on Grimm it was called a Boarbatusk. Naruto had killed a few of these things when he first arrived in this world, though those ones were far larger than the one facing off against Weiss.

At first she seemed to struggle with the seemingly simple foe before she found her footing and dispatched the creature. If Naruto had to give her anything it was that her fighting style was interesting. The glyphs that she used was clearly her semblance and they appeared to have a variety of uses. Multipurpose abilities were always useful to have in the battlefield. Not to mention she didn't even use the dust that she stored in the chamber on the hilt of her blade. He wondered what else she could do.

Her hidden abilities aside, she had a lot of work to do if she ever hoped to survive out there. Maybe his experience was a bit on the extreme side of things but from what he had seen those monsters would eventually tear her a part. Fights between these things were rarely one on one like this. These creatures usually ran as a pack and were relentless in their pursuits, only stopping once they were all dead.

Naruto understood that they all had to start somewhere but everyone at this school was already supposed to be through the basic levels of training. This was a graduate school for those that showed the most promise to be a hunter or huntress. They should be polishing these students off so that they are ready for the field, not cuddling them so they can feel good about themselves for dealing with one Grimm. If Naruto had to be completely honest, from everything he had seen thus far, he could count on one hand the number of students he thought were at the very least combat ready and he would have fingers left over.

Turning away from her rapidly disappearing fallen foe, Weiss shot Naruto a smirk before returning to her desk. Was she still on about being better than him? Did he really piss her off that much through their initial back and forth at the beginning of class? Either she was incredibly petty or there was more to this than he had originally seen. Which didn't make any sense since today was the first day he had a real conversation with the girl.

A small tap on his shoulder made Naruto turn to the black haired Faunus next to him to which he gave a questioning look. "Don't mind Weiss, she just has a special kind of personality. Just try to ignore her for now ok?"

Naruto nodded at Blake and went back to trying to take notes but quickly dismissed the notion once he realized that the professor had went into another one of his many stories of his youth. He found his mind quickly wondering back to Weiss and her attitude towards him. He really didn't understand why it bothered him in such a way but it really did.

She reminded him so much of Sasuke that it hurt. Her overwhelming confidence, enough pride in her name alone that it could suffocate a small child. She even had a small group of guys that pandered to her to get her attention. It just irked him with how similar they were but maybe Blake was right, he should just ignore her for now.

Pushing Weiss out of his mind, Naruto had one more pressing issue that he had to take care of. He was still technically weaponless. He needed to find Ozpin and see what he could do about that. Every person at this school had some type of weaponry so there had to be some kind of armory around here, maybe he could even get his trench knives fixed.

The class bell rung shortly thereafter and the students started filing out one by one. Gathering his still blank notebook and shoving it into his backpack, Naruto was about to leave before Blake stopped him. "Naruto, you have some free time after this right?"

Slipping the backpack over his shoulder, Naruto gave a half apologetic look to Blake as he ever so slightly inched his way over towards the door. It was clear that she wanted to talk with him more, probably about being a Faunus or the White Fang or something to that effect. He wasn't opposed to the idea, he just really needed to figure out his weapon situation; he felt naked without at least a kunai in his pocket. "Yeah but I need to go find Ozpin and talk to him about my weapons. I kind of had a mishap with them and I need to do some repairs."

Blake took the answer for what it was and didn't say anything else. She had wondered why he hadn't pulled any weapons on her when they had fought and that only made sense.

Blake watched Naruto leave before her white haired teammate spoke up. "I don't know why you're friends with that guy Blake, he's a total loser."

Blake turned and scowled at the ice queen of Beacon. "Why do you dislike him so much? He hasn't done anything to you. You don't even treat Jaune like this and he's bothering you all the time."

Weiss rolled her eyes at the mention of her number one stalker/admirer. "As bad as Jaune is at least he tries. Naruto doesn't care about academics and has shown zero interest in fighting since we've started the semester. I watched him today, he literally didn't take a single note during the entire two hour lecture."

Blake was visibly annoyed at her assessment of Naruto. It wasn't fair to judge him based on their limited interactions. "Not everyone is an academic. Yang is barely passing half of her classes yet you aren't complaining about her."

"Yeah, because she's trying! Not to mention the fact that she's one of the best fighters in our entire school. Naruto hasn't so much as thrown a punch since we've been here. He's either skipped every sparring class or forfeited the few matches he gets called on to compete in. Why is he even here?"

Blake frowned at Weiss's many problems that she had with Naruto. Of course Blake knew Naruto was a phenomenal fighter, if she was honest with herself he was leagues above her. Sadly she couldn't exactly divulge that information due to the nature of her fight with Naruto. "Why does he bother you so much?"

"The real question is why he doesn't bother you!? Or anyone else for that matter? Everyone at this school got in for some reason or another. Either they could fight like that brute Cardin, or they were really smart like Ren or were the full package like yours truly. He has shown zero interest in being a hunter. Some of us have worked hard our entire lives to get to where we are now, it's not fair that he can coast through and do nothing yet still attend one of the most prestigious academies in all of Remnant. He doesn't belong here!"

Blake was taken aback with how strongly Weiss felt about this. Despite how Weiss carried herself she was very observant to everyone around her, including the blond shinobi. To her, Naruto's attitude and position at Beacon was a slight against her own hard work. If someone that seemingly didn't care at all about being a hunter could be here then why did she put all of this effort to get to the same spot?

Blake did believe that Naruto belonged at Beacon, he didn't earn it through the reasons that Weiss had earned her spot but he had earned it through blood, sweat and tears. Sadly it wasn't her place to inform Weiss of such things. "You shouldn't judge a book by its cover Weiss. You should try to get to know him before you make judgements like that."

Weiss just huffed at Blake's suggestion and turned to their third teammate. "Whatever. What do you think Ruby? Don't you think that I'm right? Ruby?"

Weiss and Blake both moved their heads back and forth, scanning the room for their black and red haired teammate only to find themselves to be the only ones left in the room. "Where did she go?"

* * *

 _(Ozpin's Office)_

"Are you sure about this James?"

Ozpin sat in his office chair with his hands folded onto one another as he stared into the holo screen with the image of his longtime friend and fellow Headmaster James Ironwood.

"We haven't learned about the actual extent of the threat so far and we've already lost two teams investigating it. We know that there is a significant threat there but we can't determine what we are looking at exactly. Both teams were wiped out before they could make contact with any information."

Ozpin hummed to himself, digesting the information that Ironwood had given him. Atlas had dispatched a scouting party into the uncharted territory between Vale and Vacuo on the basis of a disturbing rumor. Since then he had lost two teams in that area without gleaming any information. If the rumors were even remotely true then this boded poorly for everyone, Vale most of all.

Sadly Vale and more importantly Beacon didn't have the man power to send out a large enough or strong enough team to investigate such a matter without causing alarm to the general public. It was no secret that Vale's ranks were still thin from the days of the Great War. Even with the conflict happening generations ago they were still reeling from the damage that conflict had wrought.

The war not only cost the lives of thousands of men and women across Remnant but perhaps even more dangerous was the amount of Grimm that were created due to the ongoing conflict. With the world's hunters and huntresses locked in mortal combat with each other there was no one to keep the Grimm in check and their numbers grew to an astronomical level. Even after the war playing catch up was nearly impossible. Their limited numbers forced them to play defensively and that only added to the number of Grimm that roamed the planet.

As a result, areas such as the uncharted desert between Vale and Vacuo became a no go zone due to the overwhelming infestation of Grimm. Whenever they would try to send out a cleaning party to reduce their numbers those brave souls would eventually succumb to the vast number of enemies. Eventually the idea of a cleaning party became akin to suicide and the practice was stopped.

So Vale and the other nations decided to build their walls high and armed to the teeth with defensive measures. And it worked, the Grimm would throw themselves against the walls and they would be slaughtered. That was fine, as long as the Grimm remained mindless.

That exact premise was what was in question. Rumors of large bands of Grimm coming together and acting in unison, as if they were being organized. While the concept itself went against everything that they understood about the Grimm it wasn't something they could ignore.

If the Grimm truly were learning and banding together it would be disastrous. It was estimated that there were near one million Grimm living in the desert between Vale and Vacuo. If they would all attack Vale's walls at once… They would be overrun within a day.

"What are your plans going forward James?"

The proud military man in question let out a sigh as his shoulders shrugged. "I'm not sure what else can be done. The final phases of the conversion are about to start and the trials have just finished for the previous councilors, I can't afford to send another team to try once more."

Ozpin grunted in acknowledgement. So it was official, Mantle was now an official defunct nation. Rampart corruption and an extreme abuse of civil rights ended with Ironwood leading a coup against the former leaders of Mantle. Once the crimes of the former councilors had been brought to light the rest of the nations of Remnant sanctioned the hostile takeover, fully acknowledging Ironwood's hopefully temporary rule.

It was a very tense situation, one that Ozpin had put himself into despite multiple voices on his side asking him to refrain from taking a side. It was something that he felt he needed to do however and he would see this out with James until the end. There was no backing down now. "So then there is nothing that you can do?"

Ironwood shook his head in the negative. "I was stretching our forces thin sending out the scouting parties that I did and with nothing to show for their apparent deaths I can't justify sending more men into that wasteland. I need every available man here at home while we finalize the government. Constitutions to draft, budgets to establish and every other detail you can think of. I could really use your help over here right now Ozpin."

Ozpin closed his eyes and rubbed them with his hand to try and clear his head. Yes, James would have difficulty setting up a government nearly from scratch. James had a brilliant tactical mind and was one of the finest strategists he had ever seen. But stabilizing a crashing country and moving it in a prosperous direction was a completely different kind of beast. "I would try my hardest to make it over to Atlas but with this new information I don't see how it's possible. We need information and if these rumors are true, Vale is going to be the first target. Until I know more I can't in good conscious leave."

Again Ironwood sighed at Ozpin's expected response. But the man was desperate to get the man's much needed political expertise. "I didn't want to mention this but we are developing a new android prototype that may be useful. It has a newly built in radar technology that can detect Grimm up to five miles away and can remotely transmit it at timed intervals. It's only in the first stages but I may be able to get it for a field test."

Ozpin gave Ironwood a small smile before accepting the gracious gift. He was aware that Atlas was just as thinly stretched as they were at the moment, maybe even more so due to the civil unrest. "If you can get me some usable Intel I promise you I will go to Atlas as soon as possible. Thank you James."

With a curt nod, Ironwood ended the transmission. Not a second too soon as Ozpin heard a knock come from his door. "Come in."

To the man's surprise, it was Naruto of all people that ventured into his room. Not that he was displeased with this turn of events, it was merely surprising. "Ah Naruto, what can I do for you?"

Naruto hesitated as he still found it difficult to read the man. He was nice enough and seemed genuine but it was still difficult for Naruto to trust those at the top so easily. "I wanted to know how I can get a hold of some weapons. I lost almost all of mine from before you found me and I feel kind of naked since everyone else here has their weapons on them at all times."

Naruto disliked having to ask the man for access to weaponry but since he literally had nothing of value in this world and no way to really get anything he didn't really have any other alternatives.

"Of course. I'm surprised you haven't come to me sooner. We have a student armory here at Beacon that should give you everything you need to construct the weapon of your liking. If you want I can show you where it is."

Naruto nodded at the man and they both began walking through the halls of Beacon. Unfortunately weapons weren't the only thing that Naruto needed. "Say, professor Ozpin. Is there some kind of student stipend or something that we are given to live on?"

The man walking next to Naruto let out an uncharacteristic laugh at the teen's question. "Oh my no. While we are one of the four academies in Remnant we don't have the funds for something like that. All food, clothing, dust and weapon parts are provided for you while the rest is considered personal, as in you personally provide it."

Naruto gave the man a deadpan look before asking the natural follow up for someone in his position. "And how exactly am I going to do that? I don't exactly have a lot of money to my name you know. And no offense but I need some new clothes, burgundy isn't really my color."

Ozpin took a thoughtful expression as he stopped outside a large set of double doors. "Hmmm, well I suppose you have two options. You could take up begging or get a part time job. Up to you really."

The glare that Naruto sank into Ozpin made it abundantly clear that he was not amused at Ozpins attempt at humor. "Thanks for the advice."

"Any time. Inside these doors you will find everything you could want with regards to building a weapon. I'm sure you're familiar with the tools so I'll let you have at it. Good luck."

With that the mysterious but kind Headmaster walked away and left Naruto to his own devices. With nothing to lose the blond opened the doors and made his way over to an open station. There was an assortment of metals, dust, containers and random tools he had never seen before strewn about the workplace. Grabbing one of the tools that looked like a thick 'L' with two thin metal strips sticking out of the end opposite the trigger.

Having no idea what he was doing, Naruto pulled the trigger and watched with amazement as an arc of lightning sprung to life between the two metal strips. The amazement wore off quickly though as he quickly realized he had no idea how to make a weapon. He wasn't a blacksmith, he was a shinobi. This wasn't in his skillset.

"So what are you working on?"

Naruto nearly jumped out of his stool at the sound of the faintly familiar voice. He was so absorbed in his musings that he didn't even notice the surprisingly stealthy girl sneak up behind him. Naruto turned around to see the doe eyed face of Ruby Rose. "I uh, I have no idea."

Ruby pouted at his admission and looked over his shoulder to reveal that he was indeed telling the truth, he had absolutely nothing on the table. "What do you mean you have no idea? You have to know what you're here to work on. Like me, when I come here it's usually to refill my cache of ammo for my high powered sniper rifle scythe."

To emphasize said weapon, Ruby reached behind her and unraveled the oversized weapon in all its glory before hugging it like a parent would hug their child.

Naruto gave Ruby an odd look before dismissing it. This wasn't the first girl that had a strange affinity towards weapons that he had met and it probably wouldn't be the last. "So is that why you're here? To refill your rifle scythe thingy?"

Ruby gave him a chiding look as she wagged her finger at him. "It's a high powered sniper rifle scythe! And no, I actually came down to see what you were working on."

Naruto gave Ruby a questioning look as he raised an eyebrow. She quickly got the unasked question and answered it somewhat embarrassed. "I uh, overheard you telling Blake that you were going to go work on your weapon. I kinda have a thing for weapons. There are so many different and cool weapons out there! None of them can compare to Crescent Rose of course but I love seeing new weapons. I was hoping you would let me see yours, if you don't mind of course."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the younger girl. Her child like fascination with weapons was just adorable. "Well you see, I don't have a problem with it, the thing is I don't have any idea what I'm doing."

Ruby gave Naruto a confused look at that. How did he not know how to build a weapon? Everyone learned how to do that at the primary schools. "What do you mean? Didn't you make your old weapon?"

Naruto shook his head at that. "Where I came from customizable weapons like your creation were pretty rare. We mostly used mass produced weapons like small knives and throwing stars."

A light seemed to click for Ruby as she snapped her fingers. "You mean like a ninja?"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the way she said it. The fact that her joking guess was so dead on made it even funnier for him. "Yeah, kind of like a ninja."

Ruby hummed to herself before she reached over Naruto and grabbed one of the many forms that were piled neatly on the desk. "Well if you only want really basic steel weapons you can just add an order form to our metal workers. Usually they forge custom parts for our weapons when they become damaged or break, like if the blade on Crescent Rose broke but they could probably easily do something simple like that for you."

Naruto took the form gratefully from the dark haired girl and looked it over and began filling it out for what he needed. Looking over at Ruby, Naruto noticed the slightly down trodden look she had on her face. Was she that sad about not seeing a cool weapon?

He really didn't like seeing a sad look on her face and she had been so helpful thus far. Maybe there was something she would enjoy seeing. "Well truth be told I actually did use a kind of custom weapon back home but it broke so I really didn't think about it. Do you think you can help me fix it?"

Ruby's eyes lit up in excitement at the prospect of working on a new kind of weapon and gave Naruto an enthusiastic nod. "Ok well finish this form for me and I'll go get them ok?"

Ruby gave Naruto another nod and he took off sprinting down the halls towards his room. As he rounded the corner right by his room he saw a flash of yellow and orange and decided to take cover behind one of the large plants sitting in the hall. Carefully peeling back some of the leaves so he could see into the hall, Naruto spotted an absolutely livid Yang stomping down the hall.

She was dressed in her normal school attire, with the only noticeable difference being her hair. While Yang's hair was normally a beautiful display of long, blonde flowing locks, her current hair was her normal blonde hair with splashes of orange throughout, which was not complementary at all.

"Oh I swear to all that is good in the world I'm going to strangle Naruto when I see him. He. Is. Dead."

Naruto let the mad woman pass him in her fit of rage. Were her eyes red just now? He wanted nothing to do with that at the moment. Ok, maybe he did miscalculate how much she loved her hair. Duly noted.

After making sure the coast was clear, Naruto made his way into his room and found what was left of his belongings from the Elemental Nations. Only two things had survived his trip over, the very first book his master had written and the broken pair of trench knives.

Naruto grabbed the twin weapons, now in four pieces. Naruto thought back to the battle that these had broken. It was after he had begun hunting Sasuke in earnest. In his rage he had made a stupid mistake and opened himself open to a fatal strike from his former best friend. If not for the durably of these blades Sasuke would have slashed his throat open.

Pocketing the items, Naruto made a dash for the armory, trying his hardest to avoid Yang at all costs. It only took him a few minutes to make it back to the armory to which he found Ruby handing over a few sheets to what he assumed was the metal smith.

"Hey Ruby, I'm back."

Seeing Naruto return, Ruby bounded over to Naruto with the same childlike wonder she had exhibited when he had first mentioned his weapons. Not seeing anything, Ruby sent a questioning gaze his way. "Sooo, where is it?"

Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out the four pieces of chakra channeling metal and laid them on the table, matching up the pieces with their broken counterpart. "They may not look like much but they're made out of a special metal that is especially good for channeling ch-aura. It makes the blades much longer and nearly invisible. It's great for throwing off enemies."

The size of the weapon didn't seem to bother Ruby in the slightest as she examined every inch of the four blades. "Wow, I've never seen a metal like this before. It's so light but strong. Amazing."

"It is isn't it? Do you think you can help me repair it?"

Ruby put down the broken trench knives and put her hand on her chin as she genuinely considered his request. "I think so. It isn't that simple like changing out a part and putting it in. I need to melt down all of it and re-forge it into its original shape. It might take some time."

Naruto just gave Ruby a smile at her analysis of his favorite weapon. "I mean this is way better than I thought could happen. I figured I wouldn't be able to use it ever again so I'm more than ok if it takes a bit of time. But since we're melting it down anyway, do you think we can maybe tweak it a little bit? I have an idea or two that I want to work into it."

At Naruto's suggestion Ruby's eyes lit up in a way that nearly scared the blond shinobi. "Now you're talking my language, what were you thinking?

As Naruto worked with Ruby to see if his ideas were even possible, Naruto was in awe in just how much the girl loved weapons. The things he was proposing weren't huge ideas, only very small details that would complement his fighting style more so than the original knives would. Even so she took an insane amount of detail and asked questions he hadn't even thought about.

What amazed him the most was that Ruby seemed so innocent and almost pure and yet here she was, designing a weapon whose main purpose was to end the lives of other living creatures. It was almost as if the concept of the weapon's purpose hadn't occurred to her as she plotted and drew like it was some kind of homework assignment.

If it wasn't for the fact that he could see the pain in her eyes he would believe that she was truly as carefree as she made everyone believe. It helped that after he had conquered the Kyūbi and taken his power he had gained the ability to feel negative emotions. That power wasn't limited to anger or hate but extended to any type of negative emotion. Pain, suffering, despair, anxiety, lust, rage, jealously, doubt, fear, grief and so many more. He felt them all equally and clearly. Ever since coming to this world that ability had been muffled like all other aspects involving the demon inside of him but he could still get a gist of what someone was feeling. When he looked at Ruby Rose he felt one thing, despair.

It really wasn't his place to pry though. Whatever caused a constant cloud of anguish to float over her head must have been something terrible, something she probably wouldn't talk about with someone she had just met. Maybe he would ask her a different day. For now however, he would focus on making his weapon with the girl. "What was that about dust Ruby?"

* * *

 _(Beacon Cafeteria)_

"I'm serious, when I see him I am going to kill him, there is no two ways about it. Don't even try and defend him."

Yang was still on her warpath as she vented to her friends, mainly those on her team and team JNPR. She still had some telltale signs of Naruto's prank visible, the blotches of orange contrasting in a not so pretty way with her natural blonde hair.

"Come on Yang, don't you think you're overreacting a bit? It's hardly noticeable."

Yang looked at her younger half-sister with a look that went far beyond outrage. "Ruby I love you to death but two things. First, have you even looked at my hair, he ruined it! Second, considering you just spent two hours with him working on his weapons and not once did you tell me where he was I don't want to hear it from you. You're effectively dead to me right now."

Ruby looked down at her plate after being shot down so harshly by her sister. It wasn't like she was hiding Naruto, she was just so caught up in his weapons the thought of telling Yang never occurred to her.

The red headed beauty of team JNPR decided to chime in with her two cents since Ruby seemed to have given up on keeping the peace. From her limited encounters with Naruto she actually like him, she didn't want to see Yang murder him so soon into the school year. "Come on Yang, it is not that bad. The hair dye will wash out in a day or two. It was only a prank."

"I have to agree with Pyrrha. There's no need to be so upset over a small prank. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm by it." In his humble opinion, Ren saw himself as the voice of reason in most cases and this one was no different. It only seemed right he try and stop Yang from killing one of their classmates.

"Yeah, no need to get violent. All you have to do is get him back with an even better prank, like shave his head!" Nora announced her idea with her arm raised in the air as a way to emphasize her point.

Her arm was quickly taken down by her partner Ren as he quietly chided her on not helping the situation. Yang just stared at all three members of JNPR before coming to the single conclusion. "No."

Weiss, who for the most part had merely decided to listen and not get involved decided to chip in with her opinion. "I don't know why any of you are ok with what happened. I mean not only did he prank a member of our team but he also invaded our privacy. Think about it. He broke into our room, a girls only room, and while we were sleeping. He could have gone through or done anything while we were sleeping. Imagine what he could have done."

Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha all shuddered slightly at the picture that Weiss had painted. None of them had thought of it like that and now they really didn't want to.

"This is ridiculous."

All heads turned to Blake as she set her food aside to look at Weiss who seemed to actually want to make things worse. "Naruto isn't the kind of person to do something like that. Just because you don't like him Weiss doesn't make him into something he isn't. And Yang you kind of deserved it. You started this whole mess when you made Naruto think that I liked him. I say you two are even."

Yang voiced her countenance to her friend quite loudly as she stood up and pulled her hair out so she could display the still orange spots easier. "We are not even! The two pranks aren't even close to being equal. We're talking proportional attacks here, this wasn't anywhere close to what I did. This means war!"

Blake was about to respond to Yang's over exaggeration but was drowned out by the cry of a girl.

"Please stop, it hurts!"

The group of seven turned to see a group of boys surrounding a single brunette Faunus girl with rabbit ears. The apparent leader of the group of boys was tugging roughly on the girl's rabbit like ears as they mercilessly mocked her for them.

Blake narrowed her eyes on the group of bullies. This scene had played out more than once and she had more than enough. "I'm tired of seeing Cardin picking on her simply because she's a Faunus. I'm stopping this."

Before Blake could make her way over to Cardin a firm hand held her in place. Looking at the light green sleeve attached to the hand, she looked at Ren waiting for an explanation. "It appears someone has beaten you to it."

Looking back to the scene it appeared someone did beat her to it and it was Naruto.

Naruto moved past the seated students, all of them either blissfully unaware of the situation going on or more than willing to let it go for their own personal reasons.

Naruto had only just arrived to the lunchroom when he saw what was going on. It was one thing to read about the discrimination that the Faunus had to experience but to actually witness it was something else entirely. At least when he was attacked and made fun of it was directly tied to the demon in his stomach. He could understand the fear those felt after said demon killed so many of their loved ones. But for that same treatment to be applied to the Faunus for something as petty as merely looking slightly different? It enraged Naruto to no end.

As his anger built he pushed his way through the crowd until he was standing just in front of Cardin and the poor Faunus girl he was picking on. "Stop it."

He didn't shout it at the group of bullies but it was said loud enough to catch all of their attention. They all turned to see Naruto standing there, a blank look on his face as he repeated himself. "Stop it, let her go."

Cardin ran his free hand through his burnt orange hair and looked at Naruto with a smirk on his face. He stood up as to tower over Naruto, all the while keeping a grip on Velvet's ears and dragging her with him as he moved. "And why would we do that outcast? Why do you care what we do to this freak?"

Naruto glared at Cardin with a newly surfaced hatred. That look, that attitude, it was just like those adults back in his village when he was a child. He didn't understand it back then but he did now. Hate mixed with ignorance of the unknown fueled a false sense of superiority based simply on birth. Nothing made him angrier than seeing something like that play out so casually. He couldn't believe that no one had done anything sooner, this was just disgusting.

"Let her go or I'll make you."

This got a chorus of laughs out of team CRDL. Fighting off more laughs, Cardin pointed at Naruto in a mocking fashion. "What? You? By yourself? What are you going to do? Is the legendary team N going to beat me up? I heard you only got into this school because Ozpin owed someone a favor. I heard you got put on a solo team because you aren't actually going to become a hunter, they're just waiting for you to drop out. Makes sense, I mean you won't even fight Jauney Boy and he's pathetic. Just how weak can you be man?"

Naruto didn't verbally respond to the slew of rumors Cardin more than likely just made up on the spot. He didn't give a damn what the other students thought of him. All he wanted to do was put Cardin in his place. "I'm only going to say this one more time, let her go."

Looking over his back at his friends, Cardin then leaned into Naruto and whispered in his ear. "Make me."

Instead of lashing out with a blindingly fast attack. With a surprisingly calm motion Naruto grabbed onto Cardin's forearm that was holding onto Velvet's ears.

Cardin saw the move and laughed at not feeling any pressure on his arm. "Oh, what are you going to do? Break my arm? Give me a break. You couldn't break a loaf of bread."

Naruto didn't say anything, all he did was look into Cardin's eyes and slowly applied pressure. Cardin was pretty good at hiding the pain but when the sounds of his bones audibly popping at the force being applied to them he broke. "Owe! What the hell? Let go! Stop!"

Cardin had let go of Velvet's ears as soon as the first pop had been heard but Naruto kept adding to the pressure. He was going to make this bully regret every moment he bullied the rabbit Faunus. "I want to make this perfectly clear to you, all of you. If I see you picking on her or any other Faunus simply because they are a Faunus.I _will_ break you. Do you understand?"

At this point Cardin was on his knees as he tried without success to remove Naruto's iron like grip. "I get it, I get it! We'll leave her alone! Just let go, you're going to break it!"

Hearing what he needed, Naruto let go and watched as Cardin and his team backed off several feet. Cardin held his arm close and slowly peeled back his uniform sleeve to reveal a nasty dark purple bruise that had already formed from where Naruto was holding onto him.

Rage was flush on Cardin's face but he held back his tongue and pushed his teammates away, leaving the cafeteria in a rush with his team hot on his heels.

Naruto turned away from the gang of bullies and focused his attention on the Faunus girl who looked like she wanted to say something. "You didn't have to do that but thank you. I appreciate what you did for me."

Naruto gave the browned haired girl a smile while scratching the back of his head. "You don't have to thank me. I just did what anyone should have done. I can't believe no one has stood up to them yet."

The girl's eyes became downcast as she gave the newer student the sad reality of Beacon. "While the official policy of Beacon is against Faunus discrimination they don't do much about it since there are very few Faunus at the school to begin with. Because there are so few of us here reports rarely get made since we don't like causing a scene. And because there are so few of us the other students don't get involved in fear of being labeled negatively. I don't believe they have bad intentions, they are just looking out for themselves."

Naruto found himself frowning in much same way that Velvet was. While he didn't like it he understood what she was saying. Many of his current friends had acted in the exact same fashion when they were younger. He knew they weren't trying to be malicious towards him, it was just how things were. "That doesn't make it right though. Still, why don't you defend yourself? Or even better get your team to help you, I doubt they would let you get picked on like this."

Velvet put her fingers together in a manner that reminded him of a shy purple haired girl back from home. "I could take care of them myself but I don't like causing a scene. And I could never tell my team about it. At the end of the day they're just being stupid, what Coco would do to them wouldn't be fair. But after what you did I don't think they are going to bother me again. Thank you once again. I never caught your name by the way, mine's Velvet Scarlatina."

Naruto smiled at the Faunus girl. He couldn't help it, she was such a kind individual. Even after all the bullying those idiots had given her she was still worried about them and didn't do anything about it as a result. While he certainly thought she should have stood up for herself he could definitely appreciate her gentle soul. "It's Naruto Uzumaki and don't mention it. If they ever give you trouble again you can let me know, I'll be sure to take it easy on them, just for you."

The two teens continued to converse while most people in the cafeteria lost interest in what was happening after Cardin ran off. All but a few who were still looking on at the scene.

Blake had a large smile on her face as she turned her attention to Yang who was still watching her fellow blond. "Still going to murder him Yang?"

Yang peeled her eyes off of Naruto and Velvet and turned back to Blake and let out a sigh, most but not all of her fire fading after watching the scene play out. "No but what he did isn't forgiven. I will have my reckoning, just not today."

The collective group laughed at Yang's expense. As the laughter died down a bit Pyrrha looked at the one empty seat at the table and sighed. "I wish Jaune was here, he really needed to see Cardin get put in his place."

The sounding of the bell signified the end of the lunch period and halted any other conversations. The students quickly packed up their belongings and quickly made their way to their next class.

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy: Gymnasium)_

Naruto watched as Jaune once again had to fight Cardin in the sparring arena. From his spot in the stands it was obvious the guy was not a born fighter. His form was non-existent and he had no idea how to use his own strength. If there was one thing that Naruto could give him credit for it was that he could take a beating but that was just about it.

"Come on Jaune! Go for his left arm! You can do it!"

Naruto spared a glance at Nora who was shouting from her spot not that far away. The girl was the definition of eccentric but he liked that about her. Whenever she was around nothing was boring. It was refreshing since the rest of her team were rather timid in comparison.

Speaking of her team, both Ren and Pyrrha were sitting next to her with team RWBY sitting the row above them which left Naruto right above them.

When they had first arrived Naruto had nearly bolted from the room at seeing Yang who still had bits of orange in her hair. To his surprise the blonde brawler didn't attack him, she only gave him a bit of a glare before she actually smiled. He didn't know what had happened between earlier today and now but he wasn't going to question his good fortune.

A rather audible clang sounded out in the arena which brought Naruto back to the fight. Jaune had been firmly planted on his ass as Cardin laughed at him. Despite not having a single chance at winning this fight Jaune pushed himself to his feet, still willing to try.

"Ugh, it's been over a month now and Jaune still hasn't improved in the slightest. How did he even get into this school? He has no combat sense whatsoever."

Naruto regarded Weiss as she continued to tear into Jaune. Even though what she was saying wasn't that far off, the way she said it was what bothered him. It was one thing when she was going off on him, he could take whatever she dished out and brush it off but when she started going into other people, especially those that he considered friends, well that didn't set well with him.

Not to mention the fact that she didn't really have much of a leg to stand on when it came to fighting. Weiss was certainly well practiced and trained hard to get her skill but overall she just wasn't a powerful fighter. Her abilities put her into a support role on her team, her glyphs and dust being able to help the heavy hitters get into a position where they could finish off their enemies. One on one however was a different story. If he took each member of RWBY in a one on one situation he would put Weiss at the very back, despite what she may believe.

"You know Weiss, you really shouldn't talk like that since you aren't that much better than he is."

That got everyone between the two team's attentions. Most of them had looks of surprise while Weiss looked none too pleased. Her anger burned through her self-control as she lashed out at the blond troublemaker. "How dare you!? How can you even compare the two of us? I'm at the top of the class in sparring and he's at the bottom, right in front of you I may add. I can't believe someone who won't even spar is criticizing me."

Naruto rolled his eyes at her use of class standing to try and justify her opinions. "The fact that I'm at the bottom of the class ranking should tell you how meaningless those ranks are. What we're doing here isn't actual fighting. This type of sparring is pointless. There's no danger, nothing to really learn since anyone worth a damn won't use any of their serious abilities here. These spars and the rankings are pointless. I could beat the majority of the people here with a single hit, yourself included princess."

Weiss bristled at being called princess by Naruto. While in certain respects she may as well have been a princess but she knew he was mocking her in the way he said it. She would not sit here and be disrespected by some low life slacker! "Nearly as pointless as you being at this school. Why are you even here? You don't try in the classroom and you won't even lift a finger at the physical aspect of our profession. I'm starting to think that maybe you did get into Beacon because Ozpin owed someone a favor."

To say that annoyed Naruto was an understatement. Just because he didn't try didn't mean he didn't deserve to be here. In all honesty it shouldn't have bothered him because he never wanted to be here to begin with but something in him just made he want to respond out of reflex. People had told him his entire life that he didn't belong, he shouldn't become a shinobi, he shouldn't have beaten Kiba, or Neji, or any of the other people he had plowed his way through growing up. It made him defensive when people called into question his right to belong somewhere. "I belong just as much as anyone else. More so in some cases. I've killed more Grimm than you've probably ever seen."

Instead of replying angrily like Naruto assumed she would. Weiss smirked at him and motioned to the floor where Cardin had just been announced the winner. "Very well, I'll call your bluff. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is? If you can somehow beat me then I'll admit that I was wrong about you. But if I win you'll drop out of Beacon. Deal?"

The impromptu bargain was met with a slew of opposition by her fellow teammates and friends, Blake being louder than the rest. "That's taking things too far Weiss, you need to back off."

Even with Naruto ending up on her shit list for all eternity, Weiss's wager put a bad taste in Yang's mouth. "Come on Weiss, that's not cool. Bets are supposed to be fun, not serious."

Naruto silenced the cries of protest by smirking back at the girl and accepting. "Deal, but don't cry too hard when I beat you in one punch."

Team RWBY and the now full team JNPR looked onwards as both Weiss and Naruto made their way to the sparring arena. Ruby was more worried than the rest as she stressed over one very important fact, Naruto was still weaponless. "This is bad. Naruto's weapons are still being worked on. How is he going to fight Weiss empty handed?"

Blake didn't share the girl's concern however, having firsthand experience that Naruto didn't need a weapon to win his fights. "No. Naruto is going to win this. Weiss has no idea what she's gotten herself into. I just hope he doesn't hurt her too badly."

Yang raised a doubtful eyebrow at the Faunus on their team, not really buying it. "Come on, Weiss might not be the biggest hitter on our team but she's good, real good. Naruto isn't going to be able to do anything against her if she gets serious and starts using her dust. I feel bad for him, I think he actually fits in here really well."

While being silent for the entire conversation until this point, Pyrrha added her own opinion. "I would not be so sure. I saw Naruto fight in the forest briefly. He has the strongest aura I've ever seen and his control over it far surpasses even my own skill. His natural fighting ability alone makes him a dangerous foe."

The group went silent at that and focused on the two combatants as they squared off against each other. Naruto set himself in a loose stance with his arms bent slightly at his sides, a confident smirk on his face. Weiss held a similar expression as she kept her saber extended in front of her, her free hand resting just above the revolver.

"You know Weiss, I'll let you back out now if you want, I wouldn't want to hurt your ego in front of everyone."

Weiss just continued to smile as she dug her feet into the ground. "I would offer the same to you but I genuinely believe you don't belong here. If you think about it I'm actually doing you a favor, having you leave Beacon now may save your life someday."

A moment went by and Glynda gave the signal to begin. Weiss wasted no time and activated one of her glyphs underneath her, propelling herself forward with her rapier aimed at Naruto.

He saw the attack coming and casually stepped to the side and let the charge miss him by a wide margin. Weiss didn't seem bothered by the miss as several more glyphs appeared across the floor which kept pushing her forward in a circle until she looped back at Naruto for another pass, this time far faster than she was the first time.

Greater speed or not she still wasn't as fast as he was. If all Weiss did was come at him with straight forward lunges than this was going to be over painfully quick. Seeing her come in for another strike Naruto once again easily dodged the attack and let the white haired girl fly by him.

The patterned repeated several times over and Weiss gained more speed with every pass as her momentum continued to build. Naruto was surprised at this tactic since he had never seen her do something like this. In a way it was as if she was skating across the battlefield. Naruto dodged another one of her attacks and couldn't help but notice that her particular fighting style emphasized her natural beauty and elegance. There wasn't a wasted motion, not even in failure as it merely continued to add to her speed with every miss. From any standpoint it was a marvelous way to fight, a work of art in its own right.

Sadly for all of its beauty and finesse Weiss couldn't find a way to make contact. Unlike Blake, Weiss didn't know how to capitalize on her opponent's surprise. Her straight forward way of attacking was just too obvious for someone that was just as fast if not faster.

But more so than that, Naruto could read on Weiss's face that this particular method of fighting was wearing heavily on her. Her face was covered with sweat and she was panting slightly but still continued to push forward as she tried to overwhelm Naruto purely on speed alone. It appeared she didn't have the endurance to use her semblance non-stop for such a continued period of time.

Weiss took one more pass at Naruto, her blade whistling in the wind as she tried her best to pin Naruto to the wall with her blade. Unfortunately for the heiress, her blade once again hit nothing and this caused her to finally cease using her semblance and slow to a grinding halt.

Weiss inhaled deeply as Naruto didn't seem any worse for wear. Naruto almost wanted to laugh at the girl with the way she glared at him. She probably never expected Naruto to be able to out class her in raw speed, which neutralized one of her key advantages against him, at least in her mind. "You know Weiss. You'll never beat me if you can't hit me. I hope you can do more than just lunge at me."

Weiss straightened herself up as she stopped sucking in air like a vacuum. "I'm surprised, I didn't think you could keep up with me. Though it's unfortunate for you since now I'm going to actually try."

Naruto readied himself for whatever else Weiss had in mind for him and wasn't disappointed as her revolver chamber began spinning. So she was finally going to use her dust, about time she took this a little more seriously.

With a flick of her wrist, a multi colored glyph formed at the tip of Myrtenaster before a much larger multi colored glyph formed beneath Naruto's feet. Without warning the glyph launched Naruto into the air, leaving him wide open as another glyph formed beneath Weiss and sent her rocketing towards the vulnerable blond.

Reacting on instinct more than anything else, Naruto grabbed Weiss's wrist just before the tip of her rapier could make contact and threw her away from him in one swift motion. The girl hit the ground and rolled with the landing and quickly flipped back to her feet, her weapon held at the ready anticipating Naruto's counter attack.

To her surprise and fortune however Naruto wasn't counter attacking, he was merely standing a fair distance away and was waiting for her next attack. Weiss knitted her eyebrows as she tried not to get offended that he didn't even deem it necessary to attack her when her guard was down. Was he underestimating her that much? "You know, in order to win you actually have to attack. Or are you only good at running away?"

Naruto smirked as the girl tried to rile him up. She was a lot better than he had originally given her credit for but it was clear as day that she was getting frustrated. It was only a matter of time and she would start making mistakes. "When I attack it's going to be over and I don't want it to be over yet. I'm trying to prove a point."

Weiss gritted her teeth as her revolver chamber spun furiously. "And what exactly are you trying to prove here? That you can put zero effort into anything you do and still deserve the same respect as people who pour their heart and soul into what they do!?"

Weiss didn't wait for a response as the chamber on her weapon stopped spinning. The blade itself started to glow red as dust was pumped into the metal object. The motion of thrusting her blade at Naruto sent multiple fireballs hurtling towards the blond faster than Weiss had ever gone.

Having dodged his fair share of fireballs in the past, Naruto executed a series of cartwheels to avoid the blasts of elemental destruction, each flaming missile exploding on contact with the empty ground.

Not to let up on the pressure, Weiss spun angrily as her revolver once again stopped spinning, this time coloring the blade blue as she sent a wave of ice at Naruto.

Naruto in turn preformed a series of back flips to stay out of the range of the Schnee dust heiress's attacks. Out of the corner of his eye Naruto spotted a trail of Weiss's glyphs circling around the path of her attacks with the heiress herself gliding along with them, her blade glowing a sickly green.

Naruto turned on his heel just in time to let the blade pass by him harmlessly as he had done many times already during their fight. Weiss wasn't kidding when she said that she was going to try. The combination of dust with her incredibly mobile semblance made it very easy to chain a multitude of different types of attacks together.

None of that mattered however. While it is often said that raw strength and speed can only take you so far the opposite was also true. All the skill in the world can't help you if you weren't strong or fast enough to defeat your opponent. At a certain point there was no amount of skill that could close the gap between two fighters on completely different tiers.

Naruto planted his feet and watched Weiss as she seemingly prepared for another round of attacks as her revolver continued to spin. "No, my point is just because you're at the top of the class doesn't mean you're better than anyone else. You could be the model student but when you get into the real world you could crumble the fastest. These classes aren't preparing you for what's really out there."

Naruto took Weiss's eyes narrowing as her not completely comprehending what he was saying. "What I'm saying is that you shouldn't look down on others who aren't excelling at what this school puts forward as most important. I'm at the bottom of the school at just about everything yet when it came down to it, I know I could beat every single person in this class. Just because you have high marks doesn't mean a damn thing once you leave this school. So instead of calling into question other's deservedness of being here maybe you should look at yourself."

For the first time Naruto went on the offensive and charged the girl. He was mad, madder than he should have been and it wasn't even at the girl he was fighting. This school was set up in the same way that his academy was. Study these important events, these important people, fight handicapped as a way to gauge your skill in combat.

It was all the same and just as flawed as it was back home and it generated the same type of people. Sasuke had the same superiority that Weiss now held, all because he topped the scoreboard in all subjects. And even though he had the best scores out of anyone, that didn't mean anything when they had their first real mission. In all respects they all should have died on that mission.

Naruto had seen enough death in his day. He had seen shinobi far too young for the battle field go in and never come out all due to necessity. Even if it didn't appear like he was saying all of these things and fighting Weiss for her benefit he really was. Whether he wanted it or not he had slowly started developing friendships with the people at this school and he desperately wanted to make sure they didn't fall into the same failings that he faced. If he had to beat Weiss and put her in her place to do that then so be it.

Naruto blazed around Weiss with a speed she couldn't even keep up with. "What happens when you're too slow to keep up with a real opponent?"

Wide eyed, the white haired beauty spun on her heel and slammed her rapier into the ground, erecting an ice shield to separate herself from Naruto.

Naruto wasn't deterred by the barrier in the slightest and merely rammed his fist into the construct. The ice barrier shattered on contact with Naruto's fist and Weiss leapt backwards in a way to distance herself from Naruto. "What happens when you're defense is too weak to stop a real opponent?"

Anger flashed in Weiss's eyes as she formed another glyph underneath herself. Her blade at the ready, Weiss prepared for another lunge, her blade being coated in red dust. The girl shouted at the motionless Naruto as she charged him.

Instead of dodging the lunge, Naruto reached out with his right hand and grabbed the superheated blade and stopped the girl's charge dead in her tracks. The nearly flaming blade seemed to sizzle in Naruto's hand and Weiss could actually smell Naruto's flesh being burned by the fire incarnate of dust. "What happens when a real opponent can tough out anything you can throw at him?"

With fear in her eyes, Weiss tried desperately to wrench her weapon out of Naruto's grip but failed miserably. Having enough of her blade burn him, Naruto yanked on the sword, pulling the girl closer to him and relieving her of her grip all at once. "The answer, you die."

Naruto tossed the blade behind him while at the same time moving forward with his one free hand and planting his fist firmly in the center of her solar plexus. Weiss went wide eyed from the force of the attack and coughed out saliva. A moment later her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body went limp on his arm.

Grabbing the girl before she hit the hard ground, Naruto laid her on the floor and took a quick glance at the screen that sat above all the fighters. Weiss's aura was completely depleted, not surprising considering how hard he hit her. Looking over at the rest of class, Naruto couldn't help but smirk at seeing all of the shocked expressions of his fellow classmates.

"Weiss's aura has been depleted, Naruto wins!"

Glynda's voice ringing out throughout the room must have woken everyone up out of their stupor as the entire class began whispering among themselves.

"Naruto, I would like a word with you after class, in professor Ozpin's office."

Naruto regarded the blonde huntress who was looking at him with thinly veiled anger. He expected as much but he meant what he said and if he had to say it to Ozpin's face then so be it. "I figured as much. I'll swing by there after I drop Weiss off at the infirmary, she should probably be looked at."

Naruto didn't wait for a reply from the older woman and scoped Weiss up bridal style and made his way up the stairs. Naruto stopped halfway up the stairs as he passed team RWBY and JNPR.

"Weiss!"

Naruto smiled at Ruby's over the top concern for her teammate. "Don't worry Ruby, she's only knocked out. I'll take her to the infirmary. I may have gone a little overboard down there."

"Ya think? You actually knocked her out. Not even Cardin does that to me. That's no way to treat a lady. Not cool man."

Naruto sighed as Jaune came to Weiss's defense even when she was unconscious. It was no secret that Jaune had a massive crush on Weiss and seeing him beat her up in such a way probably didn't make Jaune very happy with him at the moment. But Jaune was a big boy, he would get over it soon enough. They were pretty good friends all things considered after all.

Naruto didn't wait for anyone else to comment on his fight and quickly retreated down the halls of Beacon leaving the rest of his friends to their own devices.

Yang was the first to talk as she put her hand on her cheek and leaned against her desk. "I can't believe Naruto's that strong. He was messing with Weiss the entire time. I don't think he took her seriously at all."

Blake nodded at Yang while holding her stomach where Naruto had punched Weiss. She was glad that Naruto really didn't want to hurt her when they had fought otherwise she would probably be in the same boat that Weiss was in right now. "I told you that Weiss had no idea what she was getting herself into. Naruto's strong. When he says he could beat anyone in our class I believe him."

Yang wasn't as sure of Naruto's abilities as Blake was and it showed on her face. "Ehhh, I don't know about that. I think I could take him. And don't forget about Pyrrha, we have plenty of strong people in our class."

Pyrrha didn't say anything as she watched Nora tap Yang on the shoulder with her hand out expectantly. They had made a bet earlier and Nora had taken Naruto over Weiss in the fight. That didn't concern Pyrrha however as she was lost in her own thoughts. She was sure who would win in a straight up fight between herself and Naruto and it didn't end favorably for her.

He didn't use any kind of metal weapons like nearly every other fighter. That fact alone completely nullified her semblance. While that didn't mean she was defenseless, removing her semblance took away a huge advantage she would have in a fight. Considering that he was physically faster and stronger than she was and his aura manipulation was leagues above her own, she couldn't conceive a way where she would come out on top.

Despite that sobering thought, the Greco-Roman styled fighter wasn't put off in the slightest. If anything it made her more excited to fight Naruto herself. She was always looking for new ways to challenge herself and with Naruto she finally had someone to measure up against.

* * *

 _(Beacon: Infirmary)_

Weiss slowly opened her eyes and instantly regretted it as pain radiated throughout her abdomen. Recognizing that she was in the school's infirmary, Weiss recounted her humiliating defeat. It all happened so fast. She genuinely believed that she was in control the entire time. Sure, Naruto was good at evading her but he never launched a counter attack, all he could do was dodge. That was until he decided to take her seriously.

He was so fast she never even saw him rush her. He deliberately slowed himself down before he attacked so she could respond. His strength was far beyond anything she could muster even with her glyphs. He completely decimated her defenses amplified by her dust and he didn't even appear to feel his hand being burned by her blade. And to top it off he actually beat her in one punch, one punch! How could he outclass her in every way like that? It didn't make any sense.

Wincing at the slightest of movements, Weiss fought through the pain and untied the ribbon around her waist that kept her dress snug to her form. She slowly removed the sleeved jacket and let the straps to her dress fall from her shoulders and pushed her dress down to her mid stomach, leaving only a snow white bra to cover her modest bust.

Looking down at her chest, Weiss visibly recoiled at the sight of her upper abdomen. He had hit her in her solar plexus and it had turned a nasty purplish black. Weiss tenderly touched the bruised spot and nearly cried out in pain at how sensitive it was.

"You know it's going to be really sore for like a week or so. Hopefully they have some pain meds around here."

Weiss's entire body went rigid at the sound of another voice in the room, a voice that belonged to the guy that put her in here to begin with. Her head slowly turned to where the voice came from and she just stared at Naruto who was staring right back, not at all ashamed of the fact that Weiss was nearly half naked.

Weiss's reaction was instant as she screamed as loudly as she could and tried her best to cover herself. "You perverted idiot! What do you think you're doing in here!?"

Naruto for his part still didn't look away as he shrugged at her. "Well someone had to bring you to the infirmary and I wanted to make sure you were ok before I left. It wasn't like I forced you to start stripping or anything."

Weiss tried to glare at Naruto but due to her current state of dress and the fact that her face was a shade of red that would make Ruby jealous, it came off as anything but intimidating. "Just sh-shut up. Turn around already. Don't you have any manners?"

Naruto smirked at the girl but did what he was told and turned around on his chair while Weiss made herself presentable. "You know you have nothing to be embarrassed about, you look great."

Even though Naruto couldn't see the look on her face he could imagine the flustered look she probably had right now. He wondered if this was how Yang felt when she had messed with him. Before he had been caught completely off guard and Yang was clearly no amateur at using her womanly wiles to mess with guys. Weiss on the other hand probably had less experience than he did with the opposite sex, making this all the sweeter.

"Of course a low life cretin like yourself would say something like that. There's such a thing called decency for those of us that are civilized. Maybe you should try it sometime."

Naruto just laughed at the flustered girl. There wasn't any venom in her words like there was an hour ago. Her embarrassment was either overriding any of her bitchy personality or she actually didn't despise him anymore. He probably figured it was a bit of both.

"You can turn around now."

Naruto did as instructed and saw Weiss dressed in her normal fashion, as prim and proper as someone could be after being on the ass end of an ass kicking. "So, anything you want to say?"

Weiss tried to muster a glare at Naruto but it faded quickly and the girl let out a sigh instead. "Fine, you won. I was wrong about you, you deserve to be at Beacon. Happy?"

He wasn't and his frown showed it. "Not really. Tell me something Weiss, why do you hate me so much? I feel like this came out of nowhere."

Weiss looked at Naruto like he was the idiot she always thought he was. "Are you serious? I already told you. I don't like slackers who don't deserve what they are given. But you already proved me wrong. You're more than strong enough to get a spot at Beacon."

Naruto shook his head at her answer, that wasn't it, that couldn't be the answer. One didn't go after someone just because they weren't trying hard, there had to have been a bigger underlying reason to why she came at him so strongly. "There's more to it than that, there has to be. I think you owe me an honest answer at the very least."

Weiss looked at Naruto and actually seemed to consider his request. After what seemed like an hour Weiss sighed. "Fine but this doesn't get repeated to anyone do you hear me? This isn't exactly something I like broadcasting."

Weiss took a moment to gather herself before she opened up to a person that just knocked her out. She didn't really know why she was even doing this. Maybe it was a sense of obligation since he had indeed proved her wrong and she needed to make amends for going after him with such zealous. Or maybe it was the slight amount of respect she held for him after he had completely decimated her on the battlefield. "From the moment I could stand and speak my father began training me in certain aspects of life. Dancing, singing, reading, writing, playing instruments, anything you could think of my father pushed me into doing. I was always forced into working on something, always being pushed to do my absolute best and then some."

Taking a breath, Weiss looked down as she played with her hands while continuing her story.

"My entire life I've been surrounded by instructors showing and telling me how to do everything to perfection. I never had time for anything that would constitute a normal childhood. All I ever had time for was becoming the best. So when I see someone like you, someone who gives no visible effort, reach the same plateau that I did after throwing everything I had into it, it makes my blood boil."

Naruto nodded at her explanation. He understood now. He had felt much the same way when he was younger with Sasuke. Back then he had assumed that it was pure natural talent that pushed Sasuke to the forefront of the class. It wasn't until a little while after team seven formed that he learned that Sasuke trained just as hard as he did. "I think I understand what you mean. It makes a lot more sense than you hating me for some random reason."

Naruto also picked up on what she wasn't focusing on. Growing up she must have been so alone. Forced to always work on something, to master every task put in front of you. Growing up like that must have been torture in many aspects. Always surrounded by teachers, never friends. Her father also didn't seem to be the gentlest of souls with how she referred to him. That kind of loneliness must have been soul crushing and if there was something that Naruto truly understood it was being alone.

The conversation stopped as the school nurse came in and checked up on Weiss. She gave Weiss a small bottle of pills to take and some bandages to apply to herself later. After the nurse left still nothing was said and Naruto was not a fan of the uncomfortable silence. Having learned what he wanted, Naruto stood up from his chair and made his way to the door. "I should probably get going and let you rest. Sorry about hitting you so hard by the way."

"Wait! I was wondering, can I ask you a question?"

Naruto stopped at the door and turned around to see a conflicted look on her face. It was almost like she was battling with herself to even ask the question. Not having anything else to do other than get chewed out by Goodwitch, Naruto made his way back to his chair. "Sure, go ahead."

"How did you become so strong? I've never seen you at any of the combat competitions around Remnant and I couldn't find anything on you from any of the primary schools around Remnant. It's like you popped out of nowhere."

Naruto was just going to ignore the fact that she had at some point tried to dig up information on him. "That's not surprising. I was an orphan that didn't live in any of the major cities. For a long time I lived beyond the protective walls of the Four Kingdoms. Out there, in the real world. Every day was kill or be killed. You either became strong fast or you died. I'm only as strong as I am because it was necessary."

And that was the truth. Necessity drove him to become one of the strongest shinobi ever born. Be it hostile villages, Orochimaru, or the Akatsuki, he always had a reason to become stronger. Necessity had a funny way of working. While the threat is great and sometimes tragedy strikes, necessity also had the ability to cause some of the greatest achievements in history. In Naruto's case it caused him to become as strong as he possibly could.

Weiss rubbed her hands together as she felt she had touched on a rather sensitive topic for the blond. "I'm sorry, that must have been horrible. I could see why some of the things at Beacon seem trivial to you if that's how you had to grow up."

From the look on her face Naruto knew that Weiss didn't actually understand but she was trying. That was far more than he had expected from the girl, he never expected empathy from the heiress. "It's not like I don't think some of these things are important. It's just when you've been out there and actually put your life on the line these mock spars seem insulting than useful. I just don't think they're really preparing everyone for what's to come."

While Weiss was at the top of her class she knew that she had to get better and the sparring classes could only help so much. While she herself hadn't put her life on the line save for one instance, she had seen the cruel reality that was Remnant. She had lost friends and family over the years to the brutality of the real world. Maybe those classes had given her a brief false sense of security in her own abilities. Naruto took to shattering that illusion with extreme prejudice. Maybe he could help her get back on track?

While it pained her ego to admit it, Naruto was leagues above her in raw combat ability. She was his superior in almost every other way but she couldn't deny his strength. Maybe he could better prepare her for what Remnant had to offer later in life, at least in the combat department. "Hey Naruto, I know that I'm the last person that has the right to ask this but do you think that you could aid me in becoming stronger? The sparring matches have been good to me so far but I clearly have a long way to go and I think you would be a suitable teacher. I can compensate you if that helps."

To say that Naruto was shocked would be an understatement. Of all the things he never expected Weiss to ask him, teaching her to become stronger was certainly at the top of his list. Her defeat must have been far more humbling than he initially thought. Still, it showed a lot of character to swallow one's pride to ask for help, even more so for a person like Weiss. "Believe it or not I don't mind helping you. Though if you're serious about this you have to agree to always listen to me while we're training. I don't plan to pull my punches and if you don't listen to me you could really get hurt. And keep your money, I don't charge my friends when they need my help."

The smile that Naruto gave Weiss seemed to spread as the white haired teen couldn't help herself and smiled back at him. Maybe it was because this was the first time that Naruto had actually seen her smile, but he couldn't help but notice how beautiful the girl in front of him was. Maybe this whole training thing wouldn't be that bad after all?

* * *

 **And cut!**

 **Damn that was a long chapter. I certainly didn't expect it to go that long but I just had too many things that I needed to get out this chapter. I also had to cut out at least like four scenes that will get put into later chapters so that just tells you how long this chapter could've been.**

 **A lot happened this chapter, something is wrong with Naruto's Sage mode, Naruto invoked Yang's righteous fury, Weiss had a bone to pick with Naruto's personal philosophy and subsequent effort and was quickly humbled. Naruto learned of Ruby's obsession with all things sharp, we learned of unsettling news in the uncharted territories as well as some of the political background of Atlas (insanely important for later in the story). Honestly there was probably more that happened in this chapter but this was just what I remembered off the top of my head.**

 **Like always, if you enjoyed the chapter give me a review or if you disliked something/disagree with/need clarification on something you should also leave a review, I try my damnedest to get back to everyone that leaves a meaningful review.**

 **I also want to point out that this is the end of the introduction chapters. I know I've followed canon roughly to the letter with small changes up to now, which puts us around Jaundice timeline wise. From here on out however the story is going to shift in a massively different direction as I run with my multiple original story line arcs. Though some of the arcs I'm going to be writing are some of my personal fan theories of what may happen later in the story so if things seem pretty damn close than that's just me being lucky as hell figuring out future plot points. The one problem with writing a fanfic of a story that is in its infancy.**

 **And as for my other stories, I haven't given up on any of them. I'm literally less than two weeks from graduating from my university with my degree so all of my focus will be on that from now on. Once I'm graduated and I hopefully find a job relatively soon I can finish all the chapters that have been started and set up an actual schedule for updating my stories instead of just updating in between hectic times during my university life. So have a little more patience with me guys, soon all this craziness will come to an end! Only to be replaced by the soul crushing reality that is life…**

 **Till next time, cya!**


	4. Who's the Loneliest of All?

**So I disappeared for quite a while didn't I? Really sorry about that, it was never my intention. Due to my long absence from not only this story but from my other stories as well I'm going to have a longer than average AN at the end of this chapter to first address somethings I want to get at for this story and then secondly address my other three stories. The biggest of that is the announcement of an update schedule (finally I know) and to announce that none of my stories are dead! Contrary to popular belief. But you can read about that at the end of the chapter.**

 **Now that we are past the introduction stages things are going to start picking up speed and quick, like really quick. Buckle up kids, it's going to be a wild ride.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor RWBY, nothing witty to say this time, just going to hop right into it.**

* * *

 **(Who's the Loneliest of All?)**

 _(Uncharted Territories: One Month Later)_

The normally silent desert rumbled as a fast moving aircraft sped through the uninhabited land. The ship was small and sleek in design, only large enough to fit a single occupant. The jet black color contrasted heavily against the dull desert environment and the vessel lacked any type of insignia or any other kind of markings. Even stranger, this particular craft didn't even have pilot, or at the very least of the living variety.

"You will set the ship down at the designated Landing Zone before continuing on foot to the last known location of the Grimm hoard. You will gather as much intelligence on their numbers and movements as you can while remaining at a safe distance. This is a scouting mission, not combative. It is imperative that you do not engage the Grimm unless it is the absolute last resort. Do you understand?"

The lone occupant of the ship watched the stern face of General Ironwood as he went over the mission parameters for the tenth time since she had departed for the mission. Most people would have felt like they were being patronized at the number of times that they were briefed but not her, she saw it as Ironwood doing what any good commander would do, looking after their solider.

"Do not worry. I will complete the mission efficiently and safely. I am combat ready."

"Damnit Penny no you are not! Your combat functions are at a fraction of their design. Listen to me! Under no circumstances do you fight the Grimm! We have already lost eight good men on this fact finding mission and I'm not about to lose you as well. Do. Not. Engage."

Penny recoiled at the sight of her enraged leader. She knew that he wasn't angry with her. No, he was just concerned for her safety. This mission had already claimed the lives of multiple people and if it wasn't for the fact that it was deemed so important Ironwood would have let it stay as a failure.

But this mission was that important. Not just to humanity in general but to all of Atlas. The entire continent was a hair's breadth away from total anarchy. Under the veil of a powerful military controlled peace sat the signs of open civil war. The coup itself had occurred without a single life lost but a lack of plan by Ironwood's de facto government may lead to Atlas's most costly war since the Great War.

There were many different factions within the country and it was pulling the general populace in a thousand different directions. From the remnants of the last political regime, those in support of Ironwood's new military dictatorship, those concerned about the same political and social abuse that the former government employed being reintroduced but with a different name, and the members of the White Fang who continue to push for equality through terrorism. With so many different radically different factions all occupying one country it was a miracle that nothing too extreme had happened yet.

Even for a man of Ironwood's stature and great mind he was overwhelmed with how to deal with it. He was a military man, not a politician. That being said, even he could realize the importance of handling this in a political fashion. If he just brute forced the situation and cemented his rule he would be no different than the tyrants that came before him.

To that end, Ironwood needed Ozpin to come and aid him in drafting the formalities of the government in such a way that it would quell the majority of the concerns of the population. Not only was Ozpin an incredible negotiator and had an exemplary political mind, he was also trusted throughout Remnant. Ozpin acting as an overseeing third party moderator would silence many of the critics that would certainly come out of the woodworks if Ironwood were to propose anything permanent.

To get Ozpin, Ironwood needed the information that was deep within the barren wasteland known as the Uncharted Territories. This was precisely why Penny would succeed in this mission no matter what. It was the first time that she had been called on for something so important and she would not fail. She would prove her worth to the man responsible for her creation.

"Understood. I will not engage the enemy. Scouting mission parameters fulling received and saved to memory."

Ironwood softened his expression on the green eyed android at seeing her visibly recoil. While she was built like many of the androids currently enlisted in the Atlesian military, she was so much more like a child than anything else. All she wanted to do was prove herself to him and he was well aware of that fact. "Good. If you follow the mission parameters you should have no problems completing this mission without incident. You should have a distinct advantage when scouting out the Grimm compared to the previous teams. Your lack of emotions should make you invisible to the Grimm, use this to your advantage. As long as you don't attack you should be fine. Beginning radio silence, Ironwood out."

Penny let her determined stoic visage falter and fade as the screen faded into nothingness. A frown made its way onto her metallic face. She knew that as a machine she by definition didn't have a soul and was thus incapable of feeling emotions, the main draw of the Grimm to humans. But at certain times she felt as if she had actual emotions and feelings, like she was more than just a robot destined to take and carry out orders.

Steeling herself for her mission, she pushed her thoughts of existential existence out of her mind. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking of such things, she had a job to do.

Penny removed the autopilot on the ship and moved it down to the designated Landing Zone. Not seeing any immediate Grimm in the vicinity, Penny popped open the hatch of the ship and jumped out of the cockpit. Her light gray blouse rustled as the harsh desert winds attacked her clothing. Not being affected at all by the harsh weather conditions, Penny ignored the warning signs of a desert sandstorm and ventured deeper into the uncharted desert.

As the female android continued to work her way into the desert, her vision of her environment dropped drastically with the sandstorm picking up more steam. It only took a few more moments for Penny to become virtually blind in the whirlwind of sand.

Blind or not the small android continued to push forward, her blindness not causing any concern as she switched over to her internal radar system. The radar would pick up any Grimm long before they would be close enough to spot her.

While most deserts tended to be flat and barren with at most a little shrubbery, the deserts of the uncharted territories were full of steep cliff drop-offs that were nearly impossible to map out due to the fact that no one ever made it out of these deserts. With such limited knowledge of the topographic region, traversing such terrain blind would be quite dangerous for most individuals. Even for the likes of a highly advanced android.

Penny kept moving through the sandstorm, her heavy metallic body leaving deep imprints in the sand as she moved. As she took another step, she noticed a very distinct different feel from before. Instead of sand, she was met with the feel of rough rock beneath her feet before the sounds of said rock cracking reached her mechanical ears.

Penny didn't have a chance to respond as the apparent cliff she had been walking on gave way and sent her spiraling down the cliff side. As she righted herself in the air, Penny sprawled out her limbs are activated the three blades that were stored in her backpack. Using the strings connected to the blades as a conduit for her Aura, Penny sent out the blades in front of her rapidly descending form and transformed them into their blaster form. Without missing a beat, Penny activated the weapons to create a makeshift thruster to slow her fall.

Not a moment too soon as Penny could see the ground rapidly approaching. Adding a bit more power to her pistols, she came to an abrupt stop only a few feet above the ground. Once safe from her fall, Penny quickly returned her weapons to her backpack and fell to the ground with a rather loud thud. Standing upright, she gave a smile as she checked herself over and then looked around her. "Stupendous, I am unharmed and the sandstorm has seemed to have passed."

A loud screeching noise rung out over head and gathered Penny's immediate attention. A massive Nevermore flew over her head, its wings spread wide as it glided through the open desert skies. Its frame was large enough to completely block out the sun while it flew in a large circle, seemingly just flying over its territory.

At first Penny was surprised by its presence but calmed down just as quickly once it flew past her. While she did possess an Aura, Aura alone wasn't what attracted Grimm and made them hostile. It was the emotions that were connected to that Aura that brought the Grimm to humanity's door step.

Still, it was disconcerting that the Nevermore was able to get so close to her without her radar alerting her to its presence. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, Penny began running a diagnostics check on that particular piece of hardware while continuing to investigate the supposed Grimm hoard through visual confirmation.

As Penny traveled the vast expanse of the Uncharted Territories, she took note of the Grimm she ran across. A Death Stalker there, a King Taijitu in the distance, a pack of Beowolves by a cave outcropping. All in all it didn't seem as if there was any cause for concern. Still, if she gave up with only a few hours of looking the General would reprimand her for not being thorough.

This time being able to see the edge of the cliff, Penny leapt off the cliff and landed a few dozen yards down where a small ledge jutted out from the cliff side. Upon landing, Penny widened her eyes at the sight of dozens of Grimm congregating in a small vicinity. Doing a quick count, there were well over a hundred Grimm all slowing moving in the same direction.

It wasn't just one type however, Ursa, Beowolves, Boarbatusk, Death Stalkers and countless numbers of Creep Grimm all moved together and intermingled with one another. At the front of the pack was a larger than average Goliath Grimm that appeared to be leading the rest. While it wasn't uncommon for different types of Grimm to interact with one another, it was unheard of at this scale when a large Grimm attack was not going on.

This qualified for strange Grimm activity that the General would be most interested in. Making a quick note of the number and different sub-species of Grimm, Penny began to turn around to make her way back towards her ship when her diagnostic scan finished. Without warning her Grimm radar finally began working and bombarded the unprepared android with a mass of information.

Penny stumbled and grasped her head as the information nearly overwhelmed her. Just beyond what her visual sensors could pick up, thousands of red dots appeared on her internal radar. The sheer number of Grimm that were appearing caused shock to radiate through the young girl.

How was this possible? With each passing second thousands more Grimm were picked up by her radar. Such a large hoard of Grimm could easily overwhelm any of the four major kingdoms if they were unprepared for it. What was the horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach? Was this what they called fear?

A horrible noise just to her left brought Penny out of her temporary panic attack. Turning, Penny saw a comparably small Griffon style Grimm squawking at her. The creature was slightly larger than herself, with its wings giving it the appearance of being much larger than it actually was. The Grimm twisted its head as it examined the humanoid robot in front of it, seemingly not understanding what exactly it was looking at.

Penny took a hesitant step away from the monster of darkness as she recalled her mission parameters. Under no circumstances was she to engage the enemy unless she herself was attacked first. As far as the Grimm was concerned, she was inconsequential due to her lack of emotions, soon it would just fly away.

The flying feline Grimm took a step closer to Penny with its large tiger like claws, its maw opening as it let out another squawk at the misplaced thing in front of it. It took a few more steps towards the girl as it closed the distance, still intrigued but not necessarily hostile.

Penny spared a glance behind her and snapped her vision back to the Griffon once she realized she had run out of room to back up. It was moving closer still as it tried to understand just what she was. Penny on the other hand was taking everything she had learned to control the whirlwind of emotions that was starting to build inside of her.

It was so close to her now, if she reached her hand out she could probably grab onto the black fur of the monster. Panic started to build more as the Griffon refused to leave her alone. The Griffon brought its head down to eye level with her as it stared at her and then suddenly let out an ear shattering screech in the girl's face.

At that moment, Penny let the panic and fear that had been building inside her loose as she acted on instinct. The three stored blades in her backpack sprung free and came crashing down on the unsuspecting Griffon's neck, separating the head from the body in one fell swoop.

Not wasting any time to confirm her kill, Penny turned her blades into thrusters and blasted her way upwards. Landing on the desert sand, Penny broke out into a sprint as she made her way to her ship. She didn't need to look behind as her internal radar picked up that the hoard of Grimm from earlier had started making a B-line for her ever since she killed the Griffon.

Penny could all but hear the grinding of her gears in her legs as she pushed them to their absolute limits with the aid of her Aura. Her eyes snapped to the left as she saw a few Creep Grimm hopping in her direction. She didn't miss a step as she seemingly casually swung her arm out to the left which was followed by her three blasters. Each gun fired a single concentrating green laser and three Creeps dropped dead, their corpses already starting to disintegrate.

After what felt like an eternity to the girl, she finally saw the first cliff that she had fallen from. With a jump, Penny activated her blasters and shot up the side of the cliff like a rocket. Landing at the top, Penny was stopped by the screech of the same Nevermore she had first seen flying around.

Standing on the ground just in front of her ship was that same Nevermore, its wings flapping at her menacingly as it continued to screech at her. Not hesitating for even a moment, Penny brought her weapons to bare and opened fired on the oversized crow of death.

The bright green lasers hit home and pelted the massive bird, causing the bird to squawk at her and turn its body in an attempt of avoiding being shot. Penny continued the onslaught until the Grimm seemingly had enough and took to the air where it was more than mobile enough to avoid the short single fire lasers.

Frowning at her new disadvantage, Penny ceased her firing as she reevaluated the situation. Based on her estimations of the Nevermore's flying ability, even if she got to her ship she would easily be outpaced by the large Grimm. If she wanted a chance at escape she needed to kill the Grimm and quickly.

The Nevermore on the other hand had no such plans and let loose a torrent of iron-like feathers at the small red head below. Seeing the winged death coming, Penny broke into a run while simultaneously transforming her guns back into swords and began rotating them above her head in a protective shield. The dagger like feathers bounced off of Penny's defense as she ran but the ones that missed dug deeply into the earth.

The feathers that pierced the craggy ground started causing fissures on the cliff and soon the entire platform itself began crumbling away, leaving the space that Penny could maneuver to a bear minimum. She let her defense drop as the feathers stopped falling and her frown deepened. Her space to move was almost gone and if she went any closer to the ship she would risk damaging her only chance of escaping. She needed to take a stand and kill this thing here and now.

Penny watched as the behemoth of a bird circled around her again and this time seemed to take a straight on dive approach of attacking her as it opened its beak to attempt to swallow her whole. A plan forming in her mind, Penny dropped to one knee and extended her hands in front of her. Her weapons answered her commands as they transformed once more back into guns and started spinning violently in a circle in front of her.

It was a gamble and Penny knew it. She had only tested this attack once before and the results weren't exactly what one would hope for. But she had a lot of work done on her since then and she was confident that it would work now, well as confident as someone in her situation could be.

Worrying about the range of her attack not being strong enough, Penny waited until the Nevermore was only a few yards away before she let her attack go. A massive wave of green energy shot out of a condensed ball that had formed in the middle of her spinning weapons. The torrent of energy impacted on the Nevermore in the center of its beak and proceeded to cut clean through the creature.

Penny watched in awe of her own attack as the two halves of the Grimm separated and fell to opposite sides of the android. She took a moment to look at her fallen foe before a large grin came to her face. "I knew it, I am combat ready!"

Penny's celebration was cut short however as her radar buzzed at her with warnings of incoming Grimm. Realizing she overstayed her welcome as it was, Penny quickly made her way to her ship and started up the engine. With only a few button presses, Penny was airborne and high tailing it back to Atlas. The information that she had discovered was unsettling to say the least. The worst part of it was that she feared that she had only scratched the surface of what was out there. If only that Griffon hadn't found her so interesting. Either way, she needed to get this information to Ironwood as soon as possible, he would know what to do with it.

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy: Training Room)_

Steel met steel as Naruto deflected another one of Weiss's lunges with a kunai. A smirk was on his face as he parried another blow. Unlike the first time they had fought, there wasn't any sign of anger on the angelic girl's face, only a look of sheer determination. She was getting faster, her attacks were coming quicker and with more force every time they met.

To be honest with himself, Naruto was surprised at how far she had come in only a month's time. She still wasn't even close to his own level but if she kept going at this pace she would easily overtake the rest of her team in both raw skill and overall combat ability.

Weiss's unique semblance gave her the ability to be one of the strongest fighters at Beacon. Many fighters, including those on her team, had very one dimensional semblances. Yang just hit things really hard after taking a beating, Ruby became incredibly fast, Nora absorbed electricity and the list went on. While certain semblances were straight forward, like Yang's, it still made those individuals incredibly strong but it still put a certain cap on their overall potential.

Unless they broke through that gap by extreme training or adding extra facets to their fighting styles they would eventually hit a brick wall and hard. Being first years, this was why fighters like Yang and Nora were seen as some of the strongest in their class. With the simplicity of their semblance, it was far easier for them to master their abilities and shoot to the top. Given enough time, they would eventually be caught by the rest of their classmates, unless of course they would break through that wall.

The same thing was applied to shinobi from his world. While on paper the difference between S-rank and A-rank was only one rank, on the battle field that rank was worlds apart. A-rank shinobi were those that mastered their basic abilities and were decent fighters in most respects. S-rank shinobi on the other hand broke through their own barriers by some kind of extreme training or some unique ability like a bloodline. In many cases it was both.

While not a perfect comparison, it was the best Naruto could come up with in his time here. Due to the nature of different semblances, it was obvious that some individuals would hit their maximum potential quicker than others, usually those that had a simple semblance were at the top of that list. Those that had more complex semblances tended to take longer to reach that wall, even more than that however was the fact that those with those complex semblances had a far higher overall potential to reach.

Weiss and even Blake to a certain extent had incredibly versatile semblances that truth be told were difficult to use as effective as possible. On the other hand, once mastered, the number of things they could do with those semblances were nearly limitless, especially for Weiss.

So while Weiss was the weakest member on team RWBY at the moment, given a year or two and she would be competing with all of them for that number one spot.

"If you keep zoning out like that you're going to lose!"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as Weiss snapped him back to reality with her words and a barrage of ice shards. Naruto smirked at the girl as he all but danced around the deadly blast of ice. "Sorry, it's hard for me to focus when I'm fighting such a beautiful girl."

Weiss merely rolled her eyes at his expected comment and formed a series of glyphs to amplify her speed to get herself into a better striking position. After their first real conversation in the infirmary, Naruto had taken a liking to trying to rile Weiss by complementing her looks and using some not so subtle innuendo. Most occurrences of this happen during sparing matches as a way to throw her off but the effects it would have on her had diminished incredibly so after a few weeks.

The first few times he had tried it Weiss had merely called him a deviant and became flustered. Though after he continued to do it during every sparring match she had finally caught on to what he was trying to do. He wasn't trying to just get on her good side in the hopes that she would date him like Jaune did on a daily basis. His actual reason for doing so was to help her keep control of her emotions. If she let something like a crude complement rustle her while fighting an actual opponent it could be disastrous for her. Heaven forbid her outfit was destroyed and she was left exposed, she would be completely out of the fight, no questions asked.

It helped that it also bothered Weiss to no end, but that was merely icing on the cake as far as he was concerned. Though on a deeper level his comments were genuine. Over the last month he had seen Weiss on many occasions and he couldn't recall a single time where she wasn't the definition of beauty and elegance.

That was the prominent thought running through his mind as he saw Weiss gearing up for another glyph enhanced lunge at him. Deciding to do more than just dodge, Naruto flipped the kunai in his left hand into a backward grip and waited for her to get close.

As the girl in white neared him, Naruto reached out with his empty hand and grabbed onto her lunging arm and moved it far and away, leaving her midsection completely exposed. "Stop displaying your attacks so much! If you're fighting someone faster than you, you can't come straight at them!"

Naruto emphasized this by coating his kunai in wind chakra and slashing at her stomach. With a small cry of pain and a quick shimmer of bluish light vanishing around her, Weiss was sent hurtling backwards. He watched as she slowly got to her feet, seemingly no worse for wear.

It was still something that was surreal to Naruto, the ability of Aura to block fatal attacks as if they were only light strikes. From his limited time here Naruto had made a number of comparisons between charka and Aura but for each similarity there seemed to be a significant difference.

Aura didn't seem to be much different than chakra at a base level. Both were energies that were derived from the user's soul and that individual could use that energy in a variety of ways. Aura was used much like chakra was to augment and enhance one's body, improving strength and speed and other physical attributes to super human levels. Not only that, but Aura also seemed to fuel the many different semblances that he had seen, much like how chakra fueled the different bloodline limits around the Elemental Nations.

But even with their similarities, the biggest difference between the two was how they were utilized. Other than augmenting one's body, the people of Remnant found a way to project their Aura outwards in a way to form a protective barrier that would nullify any attack, as long as the user's Aura was strong enough to withstand said attack.

No one in the Elemental Nations to his knowledge had found a way to use pure chakra in such a way save for perhaps the Hyūga and even they had to expel tremendous amounts of chakra to form that barrier. No, what those in this world were able to do was something far more effective than anything the Hyūga were able to accomplish.

Sadly, that was as far as the innovation went. They had no idea how to utilize their Aura beyond the protective shield they generated and occasionally for the activation of dust attacks. He had wondered on more than one occasion if it was an actual limitation on Aura or if they as a people simply hadn't figured it out yet.

Though the biggest difference between Aura and chakra was the fact that one didn't die once their Aura was depleted, they simply lost their protective barrier. If a shinobi ran out of chakra completely it was game over, no two buts about it. That thought was currently going through Naruto's mind as he watched Weiss take her battle stance. With her Aura and her shield gone the real training could begin.

"Well then, perhaps I should mix it up a little bit then, hmmm?"

Naruto just smiled at the girl as another glyph appeared beneath her. Naruto's smile quickly turned into a frown as the design and color was something he had never seen before. Naruto watched as Weiss slowly started to glow with the same yellow color as the glyph below her.

His eyes widened in surprise as she rushed at him and seemingly blurred out of his vision with a speed he had never seen from her before.

" _Fast!"_

Sensing her behind him, Naruto lashed out with a kick that connected with her midsection and sent her tumbling backwards. Not done yet, Weiss flipped with the strike and came back at Naruto with the same enhanced speed as before.

This time however she formed a multitude of glyphs around Naruto that she used to propel herself as she continued attacking, bouncing between the glyphs and taking pot shots at Naruto as she did so.

Naruto on the other hand wasn't caught off guard by this in the slightest. Her new speed was impressive but still wasn't at his level, if anything it brought her up to snuff with Ruby. While this kind of attack would probably overwhelm any other kind of opponent, Naruto could see every one of her attacks coming and blocked or counterattacked accordingly.

As long as he could see her she would never hit him and he proved that to her with every pass. He would either block the strike or inflict a small cut randomly on her body with every pass. Seeing little point in allowing her to continue this, Naruto was about to reach out and snag her mid-air but was stopped as an ice shard made its way into Naruto's left triceps.

Wincing at the pain, Naruto quickly ripped the dust crystal out of his arm before rolling to the side to avoid Weiss's rapier. Glancing over his shoulder, Naruto noticed a second layer of glyphs that she must have just created. These glyphs looked different from the ones she was using as platforms and he quickly recognized them as the ones she channeled dust through.

Suddenly the game became much harder for Naruto as he was no longer able to just dodge Weiss but had the added danger of her elemental ice attacks. One was easy to keep up with, both on the other hand made things considerably more difficult.

Naruto idly recalled the painful memory of being stuck within Haku's Crystal Ice Mirrors and found the irony of his current opponent trying to turn him into a pin cushion much like his very first real enemy had done.

Dodging another barrage of ice shards, Naruto turned just in time to see Weiss crouched on a glyph directly above him, poised to strike.

Naruto rotated his body just before Weiss was on top of him. Having the better positon for the first time in their training session, Weiss all but tackled Naruto to the ground, forcing him flat on his back with her straddling his waist.

Naruto looked at the one hand that Weiss had on his chest to hold him down to the rapier she held back at the ready to strike him if he moved. He then looked at her face and could easily see the girl was completely exhausted. Even with a smile on her face, she was panting heavily and sweat was dripping off of her. Looking at the hand on his chest again he could see the slight tremors that indicated muscle fatigue, it seemed like that hand was more to keep her upright than it was to keep him down. The amount of time she had used her semblance and special glyphs must have pushed her to her absolute limits.

Taking in large amounts of air, Weiss talked through her pants. "Looks…(Huh)…like…(huh)…I win."

The way Weiss's body was bent over his own made it clear to Naruto that she was on the verge of passing out. She barely had enough energy to keep herself upright yet she still found enough energy to gloat, he honestly expected nothing else from the Schnee heiress. Still, it was about time to bring her back to reality.

"Sorry, you haven't beaten me quite yet."

Weiss looked at him in confusion before her eyes widened at the touch of cold steel pressing against her rib cage. Looking down, Weiss spotted the offending knife in Naruto's hand, placed right above a vital organ. Realizing what that meant, Weiss actually did collapse on Naruto out of pure exhaustion and frustration.

Naruto actually laughed at the poor girl before realizing how compromising of a position the two were in. For his part, Naruto tried his best to fight down a blush as he squirmed beneath the white haired princess. The thin combat clothes Naruto was allotted by Ozpin offered little buffering between Weiss and himself and he would be lying if he said he couldn't notice some of her more feminine features in this position.

Not that he hadn't already noticed long before this point. They had spent quite a bit of time together over the last month and he would have had to be blind not to. He could certainly see Jaune's interest and he would be lying if that same part of him wasn't interested. Realizing where his train of thought was going Naruto quickly squashed it before it went anywhere else.

It would be hard enough to leave this place as it was with the friendships he was starting to build. To add a romantic factor to it would be insane. He couldn't afford to get romantically involved with anyone in Remnant, it would make leaving one of the hardest things he would ever do.

That being said, Weiss was still on top of him and the male body only had a few natural reactions to something like this, regardless of what his mind wanted. She either didn't notice their position or didn't care considering she just continued to lay there with fake tears running down her face. "It's not fair! I really thought I had beaten you this time. I even pulled out my time dilation! Just how strong are you?" She whined.

"Hehe, if you keep getting better you may just find out. You've improved a lot over this last month."

Weiss merely grunted in acknowledgement of his complement and rested her head on Naruto's chest. Their close proximity never occurring to the usually cold heiress as she was worn out and he was surprisingly comfortable to lay on.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he was well aware and was finding it increasingly difficult for him to not be affected in a few ways. "Umm, Weiss? Do you think you could get off of me? We wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea."

That got her attention as her eyes snapped opened and her body went stiff. The next moment was a blur as Weiss was suddenly off of him and resting on her knees, her face buried in her hands which had turned a lovely shade of red. "That. Never. Happened."

All Naruto could do was laugh at her reaction. Though he had never seen her move that quickly before, maybe if she could move like that during their spars she would hit him. "Already forgotten. Come on, let's get you patched up."

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy: Naruto's Room)_

Naruto laid on his bed staring at the ceiling while the sounds of a shower running could be heard from the other room. It was their routine, after training Weiss would come to his room and use his shower to clean up and then he would heal any wounds he had given her during their training session.

The reason why Weiss used his shower and room was, in her own words, because her team's room was too crowded and she didn't want to deal with her team after training. It also helped that Naruto had the same size room as any of the other teams which meant he had plenty of extra room.

The sound of the shower turning off alerted him to Weiss nearly being done cleaning off. Putting his hand in front of himself, Naruto squinted his eyes on the extended appendage and concentrated until a bright green light emanated from it. The healing palm jutsu was the most basic of healing techniques and was only good for healing basic wounds and bruises.

Even with it being the most basic of medical techniques it was all Naruto could muster with his still shoddy control over his chakra. He had all but begged Sakura to teach him the move during the war and she had eventually relented and taught it to him. It took a while but he finally learned it. After he had lost Hinata during the war he had become determined to not lose anyone else ever again and learning healing techniques was the best way to do that.

Well, it was the second best way. Naruto had explored the one 'better' way and with great success but due to the price he had to pay he had never had the opportunity to use it. By the time he had actually learned the technique it was too late to use it on the one person he wanted to. So instead he focused on trying to save those that he could and even though he was only able to learn the most basic of healing techniques, it was better than nothing.

The sound of his bathroom door opening snapped Naruto back to reality and he let the healing jutsu fade as he turned towards the fully dressed Weiss standing in his room. Noticing the frown on his face, Weiss crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look. "What, expecting me to come out in a bath towel? Keep dreaming."

Naruto snorted at her misinterpretation and worked himself into a sitting position. "Can't blame a guy for hoping can you?"

Weiss just rolled her eyes and moved her way over to Naruto and sat down next to him. She rolled up her sleeve and extended her arm to Naruto and gave him an expectant look. "Well? Are you just going to sit there or are you going to heal me?"

Naruto just nodded and gingerly took her arm and looked it over. She had a few bruises and a couple cuts from their fight. He took his other hand and placed it on one of the cuts and let the healing jutsu work its magic.

The first time this happened was a new experience for Weiss mostly because almost all of the spars at Beacon ended before anyone could get hurt. At most one would be sore after the end of a spar but because all of the fights were ended before someone's Aura was fully depleted no one received any actual injuries.

Naruto had been pretty insistent on the fact that if he was going to train her they would fight until she couldn't keep going, not until her Aura was gone. She had to give it to him, he had made a very compelling argument for why. If she was in an actual life or death battle with Grimm or anyone else, would they stop just because her Aura shield was gone? Of course not, if anything that was when she would have to fight her hardest. If she wasn't able to take any hits after her Aura was gone she was as good as dead out in the real world. So even though it was painful to take the hits and embarrassing to be held in any fashion by Naruto, she would endure it.

Weiss watched Naruto's hand glow green and heal her minor wounds right before her eyes with a small amount of amazement even though she had seen it before. "I still don't believe that this isn't some kind of semblance, I've never heard of raw Aura being used in such a fashion."

Naruto let out a small chuckle at her continued disbelief even though she had seen him do this a hundred times. "I told you, where I grew up we learned to use Aura in a different kind of way. Though as a tradeoff we can't use Aura's protective properties. I think it's a pretty good trade all things considered."

Weiss made a disbelieving sound but decided to leave it alone. She had wondered why in their first fight she was able to burn him despite him not once taking damage and his Aura being at full. In the heat of the moment she didn't have time to think about it but after the fact it bothered her for a week until she broke down and asked him about it.

He responded with saying that they never learned to use Aura's protective force field where he grew up, instead they learned how to use Aura in new and innovative ways. She would have mocked him if it wasn't for the fact that he had shown her multiple abilities that would require a semblance for each ability. Since having more than one Semblance was literally impossible she had to accept his claim.

Moving onto her other arm, Naruto couldn't help but notice the change in her arms over the last month. She had become far more toned and physically stronger since their first encounter. "You know Weiss, you really are improving and by a lot. You should be proud of how far you've come." He told her honestly.

Instead of a smile or look of accomplishment from the white haired beauty, a frown adorned her face as she looked away. "I'm still not good enough, I can't even land a decent blow on you let alone actually beat you. I feel like I've gotten nowhere since coming to Beacon."

Naruto worked on a particularly deep cut while frowning at her apparent displeasure with her progress. "You can't measure yourself against me like that Weiss. We were raised in completely different circumstances. It's not fair for you to try and compare yourself with me, it doesn't do you the justice your hard work deserves."

Naruto couldn't see Weiss's face as she was still turned away from him but he could imagine it hadn't changed much. Naruto had gotten to know Weiss rather well over the last month, more than he ever expected if he was honest with himself. For all of her skill and bravado she was just as insecure as anyone else was when it came to not matching up to her own expectations. With Weiss, those expectations were nothing short of perfection.

"You say that but even with all my hard work I still can't hit you properly. How much are you holding back to make it appear that I'm close to you? I'm not stupid, every time we spar you put a little more effort in just to stay ahead of me. How much of a waste of your time is training me?"

Naruto frowned but didn't refute her claim. She was right, he was holding back by a significant amount even now. There would be no benefit to the girl if he just went full out right away during every sparing session. If he did that he would just hit her with one attack, shattering her Aura and knocking her out much like he did the first time they fought. If he wanted her to improve, and he genuinely did, he had to stay just ahead of her and give her something to work for.

And there was the heart of the issue. Realizing that he wasn't taking her seriously must have been a major blow to her pride. Even worse, it probably made it appear that all this time they spent together was a waste of time for him and he was only doing charity work since he wasn't getting anything out of it.

Weiss had made it very clear early on that she didn't want to be a charity case. She had offered on multiple occasions to pay him for his services, to which he had adamantly refused her, stating he could never take a friend's money for helping them. She didn't believe in handouts but with him not wanting money she had no idea how she could repay him.

"I've told you before, this isn't a waste of my time. Get that thought out of your head, I'm doing this because I want to." He told her with a slight hint of annoyance for having to repeat himself.

Weiss removed her now healed arm from Naruto's grasp with a solemn look on her face. It was clear that she didn't believe him. With an exasperated sigh, Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of a way to get her over this bump. "This is really bothering you isn't it? Why can't you believe me when I say that I want to help you just for the sake of helping you? You're my friend."

Weiss gave him an annoyed look as she scanned her body for anymore wounds she needed healed. "Perhaps now but we certainly weren't friends when we started. If you would let me pay you then this would at least make sense but as of right now you're getting nothing out of this. It doesn't make any sense to me as to why you would waste your time with this, waste your time with me." Weiss paused and she thought of her next words carefully. After a few moments, she hesitantly continued. "I… I think we should stop training together."

Naruto watched as Weiss made a move to get up and leave. He knew why she was acting like this. In her mind she thought she was a burden to Naruto and he was helping only out of pity. To someone like Weiss that was unacceptable. But she wasn't a burden to him, maybe in the beginning he was doing it just so she wouldn't suffer out in the field but now he genuinely enjoyed their sparring matches.

Moving quickly, Naruto reached out and latched onto Weiss's hand with his own, earning him a confused look from the white haired girl. "Wait Weiss… please just wait."

Weiss was about to ignore him and leave regardless of what he said but once she looked into his eyes she stopped. They were pleading with her to stay. She looked towards the door indecisively before she sighed and made no further movements away from him.

Weiss looked at him expectantly as Naruto tried to find the proper words to dispel her worries. Not finding the perfect answer, Naruto tried the one thing off the top of his head, the truth.

"Maybe… maybe I just enjoy spending time with you."

Since he started here at Beacon he had made a lot of friends. Ruby was an eccentric if not slightly socially awkward. Yang was boisterous and fun loving and best of all a fellow prankster. Blake had formed a special connection with him due to their shared past, he still felt bad about lying to her about that but he really couldn't tell her the truth now, he was in far too deep in that regard. Naruto had even developed a strong connection with Jaune and through him the rest of his team. He had even found a good friend in Velvet after her bullying incident.

He enjoyed spending time with all of them to varying extents but with Weiss it was different. He found their spars to be the one thing he actually looked forward to during the day. Spending time with her just made his day better. It was hard to explain why but he knew how he felt. If he was completely honest with himself he hadn't felt this way about anyone in nearly a year. He actually never expected to feel that way about anyone again if he was being truthful. A part of him was scared of how he felt about her.

He watched as Weiss's expression went from confusion to surprise at his words. Her eyes moved from his face towards their interlocked hands and back to his face. He gently pulled her back to the bed to which she offered no protest. "I know you think that you're a burden and this is just a waste of time for me but it really isn't. Our spars, just spending time with you, it's probably the best part of my day. That sounds weird doesn't it?"

Weiss didn't say anything, she merely elected to look down at her hands with the slightest of blushes on her cheeks. She wasn't exactly sure what Naruto was trying to say but she had a guess. Though this was different from the times other guys would try to hit on her, he seemed authentic, not just putting on a show like Jaune did almost every day when he would ask her out.

She didn't really know how to respond to that. In other instances it was easy to dismiss the other person and move on but with Naruto it wasn't that easy. For starters he wasn't just hitting on her, he was honestly conveying his feelings. Though the biggest difference was the fact that she wasn't completely turned off by him. Jaune was annoying, his constant proposals were a nuisance and she didn't even want to get started on the random guys that would approach her sporadically.

Naruto was different from all of them. She knew for a fact that he wasn't trying to get close to her just because of her money or her family's influence. His constant refusals to take her money told her that and the fact that he seemingly couldn't care less about doing well in the school showed her his social standing didn't mean much to him either.

It also wasn't just because she was pretty. Despite his endless teasing during their sparring matches she knew that wasn't something that drove him. If it was then Yang's slightly sexual pranks on him wouldn't have the effect that they did. But even if he really felt that way now, it didn't explain the reasoning behind him helping her in the first place. "So you decided to help me get stronger because of how you…"

Weiss didn't finish the sentence but Naruto quickly picked up on what she was saying. Now it was Naruto's turn to blush slightly as he tried to correct her. "No! I mean to say, that's not why I said I would help you."

Calming down, Naruto looked down at his hands as he remembered his war torn home. "Back home, things were different than in Vale. People died every day, some I knew, some I had never held a conversation with. It didn't matter because at the end of the day someone had died. That's just how it was."

Weiss looked at him with an interested expression as she listened intently. He rarely spoke of where he grew up, even rarer when it was unprovoked. She would be lying if she wasn't interested in his past.

"I had lost more than a few friends growing up. Either they just weren't strong enough or they had made a poor decision. It is hard losing someone you know and care about, it's even worse when you know there was something you could've done to prevent it." Looking up, Naruto looked straight into Weiss's light blue eyes as he continued. "So the reason why I decided to help you train was because if you were killed on a mission I would partly blame myself for not helping you when I could have."

Weiss looked down and away at Naruto's words. Naruto saw this and let a smile creep onto his face as he continued. "But after a while I started enjoying our spars and the time we would spend together. Honestly, even if we stopped training together I would still want to hang out. You know, just the two of us."

Weiss looked back at him with the smallest look of shock on her face. It didn't help that he was smiling at her with his infectious grin. Weiss let a small smile grace her lips as well as she couldn't help herself. "I see. Well if it means so much to you then I suppose I wouldn't mind continuing our sparring sessions."

With that Weiss rose from the bed and tried to make her way out of Naruto's room only to be stopped by Naruto's hand that was still holding onto her hand. She gave the whiskered scarred boy an odd look to which he merely raised a finger and poked her in the stomach.

Her reaction was nearly instant as she sucked in air to avoid yelping in pain. Naruto on the other hand laughed at her reaction before patting the bed once more. "You forgot about when I kicked you in the stomach. That had to leave a nasty bruise."

Weiss merely pouted as he reminded her of another of her failings in their spar. She hadn't noticed that bruise since it hadn't been hurting while she moved. Knowing she couldn't just leave it be, Weiss sat back down on the bed and starred at Naruto while he gave her a knowing grin.

She continued to stare at him until she finally relented and let out a groan. "Are you sure that you have to actually touch the skin to heal it?"

Naruto just nodded while trying to keep his mischievous smirk back. It was a small white lie he had told her the first time he had healed her. To be fair, while it wasn't one hundred percent necessary for him to touch the skin to heal wounds, it certainly helped since he could visualize what he was doing.

Weiss groaned again at his response as her cheeks flared red. Shutting her eyes, Weiss moved to remove the straps on her combat dress so that Naruto could get it over with but stopped as her hands reached her shoulders.

Naruto didn't say anything as the girl struggled internally with what was no doubt a mortifying experience. After a few moments of nothing happening Naruto ventured a question. "So are you going to take it off or…?"

Weiss opened her eyes and brought her hands down from her shoulders, leaving the straps in place. "I can't! It's just wrong. I know you weren't brought up with any kind of decency but for those of us that were something like this is obscene! Even if it is for a medical procedure."

The only other time Naruto had seen Weiss this flustered was when he had walked in on her half naked a month ago. While it was highly amusing to watch her torment herself, Naruto didn't have all day. "Maybe it would help if you concentrated on something else while I do it?"

Weiss gave him a doubtful look before responding. "And what pray tell should I focus on? You're wonderfully barren room?"

Naruto gave her a pointed glare as she pointed out his lack of personal affects. It wasn't like he came to Beacon with a dozen suitcases like the Schnee in front of him. Instead of snapping back however, Naruto offered a suggestion. "Why don't you sing for me? I found a recording of you singing at a concert on the scroll that Ozpin gave me. You were really good."

Weiss looked surprised at Naruto but her cheeks tinted red as she gained a nervous look about her. "You want me to sing? I haven't sang in weeks. I wouldn't even know what to sing."

Naruto smiled at her and put his hands on hers, electing the widening of her eyes by a small amount. "Why don't you sing _Mirror Mirror_ , that was my favorite. Just ignore everything else and focus on the song."

Weiss looked at their connected hands before looking at his face. She hated the way he was making her feel. She had absolutely no idea what to do or how to respond but at the same time she actually enjoyed how his undivided attention made her feel. Making up her mind, Weiss removed her hands from his and shut her eyes as tight as they would go. "Ok, just be quick about it alright?"

Naruto gave an affirmative grunt as Weiss removed the straps on her dress and pushed it down to her waist, leaving her covered only by her bra. Naruto found it hard to remove his eyes from her delicate form until the sound of her voice cut through the silence of his room.

" _Mirror, tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all."_

Naruto quickly began working on the deep purple bruise on her stomach as she sang. Her voice was truly something else. Even more than that, the emotion that she sang with made the song all the more impactful.

Naruto wasn't lying when he said it was his favorite song. It spoke to him, it conveyed exactly how he felt growing up. Alone in the world with only a mask to keep everyone else from knowing. It wasn't just him it spoke to though, it told him more than enough about the singer in front of him.

Naruto wasn't a musician by any stretch of the imagination but he knew that someone didn't just create a song like this out of thin air. This kind of song came from the heart, a heart he could understand.

Growing up she was alone even though she was surrounded by people. Always teachers, never friends or family. From what he had gathered her father was anything but warm and she had never mentioned any other family. She never spoke about friends other than those that were here at Beacon. Even with all her wealth and privilege, she was just as lonely as he was.

Naruto let the glow of his healing technique fade as a sad smile etched itself on his face. Before Weiss could open her eyes Naruto moved to embrace her in a hug.

The sudden move interrupted the song and Weiss snapped her eyes open to look at Naruto. Her body was tense at the unexpected move and at their close proximity.

Naruto didn't care much for her extreme discomfort as he held her close. "I know what it's like to be alone. I know how crushing that feeling can be. As long as we're friends, you will never be alone again."

Naruto heard the slightest of gasps from the girl in his arms and felt her slender hands press softly on his chest, not enough to fully push him away but enough to give a small amount of room between them.

Naruto's ocean blue eyes looked into her powder blue and his mind went blank. Even though everything in his mind told him to do the opposite, Naruto couldn't stop his body from moving on its own.

Staring into her eyes, Naruto slowly leaned towards her and captured her lips in a light kiss. Both of their eyes slowly closed once their lips connected. While not passionate and only lasting a few fleeting moments, the kiss conveyed everything that had been in doubt in both of the teen's minds.

They broke apart slowly and looked at each other, both flush in the face at what had just transpired. Not knowing what to say, both teens sat in silence while looking at one another.

The sound of Weiss's scroll going off brought them back to reality and Weiss instantly sprang up from the bed, returning her dress to its proper place and running over to his desk to grab her scroll. Looking at it for a second she turned back to Naruto, her face still as red as Ruby's hood. "I've got to go! Bye!"

Her voice was louder than what he assumed she intended but he wrote it off as her being embarrassed. She wasn't the only one however as his face gave hers a run for her money with how dark it had become. He had no idea what had taken over him when he did that, that wasn't like him at all.

Still, he really didn't want to leave things like this. He needed to talk to her. "Wait, Weiss!"

This time however the Dust heiress didn't heed his call and ran out the door, slamming it shut behind her. Naruto deflated on his bed, deciding that following her at this moment probably wasn't the smartest option.

Naruto's thoughts quickly returned to the kiss he had shared with Weiss as his right hand moved its way to his mouth, his fingers lightly brushing against his lips.

"What the hell did I just do…?"

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! While the chapter really only focused on three characters I feel a lot happened, not only between Weiss and Naruto but also in the overall world of Remnant with the info Penny gathered. Now I know some of you are going to be upset that I skipped a month but it really was only basic school life. Some will say that I should have used that to build more on character interactions but trust me, there will be a TON of that as the arcs get rolling.**

 **I will touch on the Weiss and Naruto dynamic this chapter briefly and without giving too much away. I have my reasons and it isn't just because I like the two together, there are legitimate reasons. I'm not going to spoil the plot too much here, just going to say two things. First, it isn't as straight forward as it may seem. Second, for those thinking I moved way too fast on this you have to remember they are in high school and are 17, people get crushes and the like pretty fast at that age. I mean Jaune was hitting on Weiss within a day, it was clear that Pyrrha liked Jaune right away as well and even Weiss started liking Neptune in less than a week of meeting him. So as far as the RWBY universe goes, this isn't at all out of the ordinary. Have some faith people alright? I have my reasons.**

 **Now onto the overall things I wanted to address.**

 **Alright first and foremost I'm going to address this story before I get into the other stuff. This story has had the most controversy than any of my other stories which has really surprised me. I'm not going to lie though, for a while it really bothered me and I felt like stopping but I got over it. I'm going to write my story the way I want it written and if people don't like what I'm doing then so be it, they can leave. I'm more than open to constructive criticism but open flames (to which I've received quite a few) will just be straight up ignored. I have no intention of getting into internet drama over fanfiction, it sounds asinine just saying it.**

 **That being said, since I know this chapter will probably have a fair share of critics complaining about the developments, I do have a defense for my actions. Everything I do and write has a legitimate reason and a thought out process to it. I just don't throw shit on the wall and see what sticks. I'm just going to ask for your patience and trust with this story. Allow me to flush things out fully before you get mad at me for things you perceive as not making any sense.**

 **Also I will admit I'm moving rather fast in the RWBY timeline, we're actually done with Volume 1 except for the season finale but that will be a bit until we get to there. There will be time skips in this story and if I skip over a canon episode assume it goes the same way it did in canon.**

 **I hate rehashing canon with just Naruto thrown into the mix. Sometimes it is unavoidable but I try my best to write my own story while very loosely following canon. I have my own arcs planned and this story will be epic in length just like my other stories.**

 **Now onto a more fun topic, Volume 3 in general.**

 **Holy shit I was not expecting that and I loved everything about it. About time RWBY introduced some of the darker elements of reality. Not expected but fits in perfectly for what I have planned later in this story. And to anyone that says that Mounty wouldn't have written scenes like that I have to say that they had five to six seasons planned out before he passed. I'm positive he had this planned out, it's too big of a change in plot not too. While Pyrrha was my favorite character I can understand her death in that situation, while I pray for her eventual return it's probably never going to happen. RIP Arkos.**

 **Now for the rest of the stories and a quick explanation of my** _ **very**_ **long absence. My other two stories on this site have been inactive for at least a year, my Young Justice crossover even longer than that. This was never my intention when I started them and I haven't abandoned either of them.**

 **I first went MIA because of a combination of finishing my degree and being disillusioned with fanfiction. Then when I finally started getting going again on it thanks to this story I had to take another break to finish my last semester. I did that and graduated with my degree, yay me. Then I went on the arduous task of finding meaningful employment and let me tell you, not an easy thing to do even with a four year degree.**

 **Not finding anything for roughly 3 months put me into a mild depression as bills piled up. Though I found a decent job now so I broke out of that relatively recently. But fate wasn't done beating on me as just last week my grandmother passed away. It hit everyone in the family hard and we became consumed with the funeral as most families do. The chaos of that event is finally dying down giving me my free time back to which I'm using to write more regularly.**

 **This brings me to the final thing I want to say. I'm going to implement a schedule for updating now. I will try my damnedest to upload a chapter of one of my stories at least once a week. While not something I'll always be able to accomplish, I promise you guys this. I will not go two weeks without posting something, even if it's just an update on what's going on.**

 **Hopefully that will help my stories and my readers, since hopefully you guys enjoy what I write. Also on a side note, would you guys be interested if I made a twitter for this fanfic account so you guys can interact with me easier? Just a random thought that popped into my head.**

 **Alright, I've rambled enough, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and have a nice day!**


	5. Red Like Roses

**Alright boys and girls I'm back with another chapter. I know I disappeared again but like every other time, health and real life concerns kind of took over and left little room for writing. I know this has been like the 100** **th** **time I've had this problem where I say I'm going to start a schedule then something pops up that prevents me from finishing that schedule so I'm not promising that shit anymore. I will get my stories updated as quickly as life will let me, that's going to be my motto from now on. But I will put an honest to god damn effort to update at least once a month if not more, I want these stories written just as much as you all want to read them.**

 **On a side note, who here has been watching RWBY Chibi? I didn't think I would like it at first but those animated shorts have really grown on me. Guess I just need my RWBY fix is all.**

 **Also for reference sake, we are still in season 1 before Blake's big reveal.**

 **Disclaimer- This will never change, I will continue to own nothing except the ideas in my head and the crippling debt that is hand in hand with being a college graduate in America.**

* * *

 **(Chapter 5: Red like Roses)**

 _(Team RWBY's Room)_

"Then you and Weiss will move in together and attack in unison! We'll call it checkmate!"

Blake looked up from the book she was reading and gave Ruby a raised eyebrow at the name she had given for the combination attack between Weiss and herself. It was nice and even necessary for their team to go over strategy and develop tactics, she just wished that Ruby could come up with better names. "Wouldn't it be better to go over these plans when the entire team was actually here?"

From her spot on the top bunk of their shared bed, Yang let her head hang off the edge, her long flowing blonde hair nearly touching the sheets on Blake's bed. A bored expression rested on her face at going over the tactics. She didn't need tactics, all she needed to do was go and pound her enemy into the ground. That was more her style. "Blake's got a point Ruby, can't really go over 'team' attacks without the team."

Ruby looked up from her battle plan 'sketches' which were no more than chicken scratch and stick figures. A frown marred her pale face as she tried to reason with her team. "I messaged Weiss like a half hour ago and she still hasn't responded. I even marked it as an emergency so she would at least respond. I hope she's ok."

Blake noticed the concern in Ruby's voice over the absence of their team's resident heiress and tried to put the girl's worries to rest. "I'm sure she's fine Ruby. Weiss has been staying out later on school nights for the last month. She usually shows up around this time anyway. Just give her a few minutes."

Ruby's frown didn't disappear at Blake's words, it only seemed to worsen as the young team leader continued to voice her concerns. "But that's just it. Where has she been going this last month? She never did this when school started, she always came back to the dorm to study or go over stuff with the team."

Yang rolled over from her spot on the top bunk bed and rested her head in her hand as she idly kicked her legs back and forth to try and stem off her boredom. "I mean didn't she say she was going to the library to study in peace because she said and I quote 'I can't hear myself think with your useless prattle Ruby!'."

Ruby puffed out her cheeks rather indignantly as Yang's impersonation of Weiss. "I know that but I went looking for her last week in the library and she wasn't there. I went around the entire thing three times!"

This got Yang's attention as she sat up from her spot, finally interested in the conversation. It wasn't because she was concerned about Weiss. She was sure that the heiress could more than take care of herself. No, if she lied to Ruby about where she was going that meant she was hiding something, and that something would be some juicy gossip.

Before Yang could comment on Weiss's unknown whereabouts, the door to their room busted open to reveal a red faced Weiss with a very annoyed look on her face. The white haired girl marched up to Ruby who only gave her a confused look.

Weiss put her hands on her hips as she stared down at her younger partner with an expectant look on her face. After a few moments passed and Ruby didn't say anything, the Schnee finally let out a sigh. "Well? What was so important that I needed to drop what I was doing and rush here? I was in the middle of something important."

Ruby, either not noticing Weiss's annoyance or simply ignoring it, reached over on the desk and showed her the crudely drawn battle tactics that they were previously going over. "We were going over team strategies! You completely missed your role in Checkmate!"

If looks could kill poor Ruby would have been dead and buried six feet under by now. "Are you serious? You interrupted me for that!? Of all the stupid things you could have possibly put down as an emergency! We could have done this at literally any other time you dolt!"

Ruby visibly shrunk as Weiss continued to tear into her for her over excessiveness. Yang on the other hand only had a grin on her face as she leapt off the top bunk and made her way over to the irate heiress. "And what pray tell was so important that it's more important than your dear team?"

Yang had her suspicions before Weiss had entered the room but when she saw Weiss's flushed face and lack of sweat it all but confirmed her theory. All she needed now was a name. With how flustered the girl seemed to be it wouldn't take much prodding to get that out of her.

Weiss stopped her verbal tirade against her red haired teammate and regarded Yang with apprehension. The look Yang was giving her seemed innocent enough but Weiss knew better, that look meant nothing good. "I was uh-studying! Yes, I was studying like I always do after classes. I hate being interrupted by stupid distractions, it's why I study by myself in the library." Weiss took a second to point back towards Ruby and her battle plans. "Case in point."

Yang's innocent smile turned into the slightest of smirks as she pressed the white haired princess. "Well that's interesting. I was in the library an hour ago and I didn't see you. I asked and Professor Peach said that she hadn't seen you all day in there."

This caused Blake to close her book and take an active interest in her team's antics. Blake knew for a fact that Yang was fast asleep an hour ago. Everyone on this side of the dormitory knew Yang was sleeping an hour ago with how loudly she was snoring.

But instead of an indignant look and rebuttal by the Schnee at being called a liar, she seemed to recoil slightly and a nervous expression came to sit upon her face as she looked at the questioning looks she was receiving from her teammates.

Weiss took an involuntary step back as she felt like a deer being surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. "I uh, I took a break to do some physical training. It's not healthy to overwork the mind after all."

Yang's grin only widened at the admission. All she needed to do was push a little more and she would have her answers. "I guess that makes sense. Though there's something that is still bothering me. You were clearly training with someone since your dress is all cut up. So the question is who?"

Weiss backed away slightly until she found her back pressed against the closed door of their room, her eyes frantically darting between the curious gazes of Ruby and Blake and the malicious smirk of Yang. "You wouldn't know him…"

Weiss's hands went to her mouth and her eyes widened in horror at her slip of words as Yang's mouth opened wide in a silent scream. "I knew it! You've been sneaking around with a guy here at Beacon! Who is it!? How long has it been going on? You need to tell us everything Ice Queen."

Weiss turned away from the excited blonde to her other two teammates for support but found none as both seemed just as interested in this development as Yang was. They just weren't as vocal about it. Turning back to the grinning blonde boxer, Weiss steeled her face as she tried to brush off Yang's accusations. "I have not been sneaking. We are in plain view using the training grounds, I'm not hiding anything. He's merely helping me with my combat training as he has a knack for fighting, that's it. And don't even try asking who it is, I'm not going to put him through whatever it is you have planned in that demented head of yours."

Yang didn't seem to mind the jab that Weiss took at her as she switched up her attack plan. "No names? Fine by me. But you have to tell us something. How long have you guys been 'training'?"

Weiss didn't appreciate the air quotes that the girl put around training but let it slide as arguing about it would do nothing. "Fine, you each can have one question. But no names! As for your question Yang, about a month."

Blake looked over at her partner and didn't think that her grin could get any bigger, she was enjoying this far too much. Though she had to admit that even she was finding herself enjoying this situation. It had been so long since she had actually felt…normal. She had never been able to just relax with friends and have girl talk. The thought of having normal friends was a foreign one to the ex-terrorist, well as normal as her team could get anyway. It made her happy, happier than she had been in a long time. "What year is he in?

Weiss regarded her quietest teammate with slight surprise as she didn't expect Blake to partake in Yang's little game. Still, she did say she would give them each one question. Why was beyond her, the entire situation was unlike anything she had ever encountered before and she just wanted it to end. Hopefully she could get through this without telling them she had been with Naruto. The memory of their last interaction rested prominently in her mind and her cheeks flushed at the thought. "He's a first year like the rest of us."

Yang seemed to jump in place at the new information as her mind went through all of the possible guys Blake's question presented. Weiss decided to ignore the blonde and gave her partner an expectant look. "Well aren't you going to ask something? I would very much like to drop this subject."

Other than the fact that Weiss was trying to hide the person from Yang, something that Ruby could completely understand, she didn't see what was so weird about Weiss going out and training with another student here at Beacon. She had gone and trained with Jaune before and Yang had never made a big deal about it. "Uh, what color is his hair? I guess?" Ruby said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

Ruby received quick reinforcement as Yang patted the girl on the back and gave her a thumbs up, clearly liking the question. Ruby turned from her sister and back to Weiss as she contemplated answering the question. Without a good reason to deny her, Weiss relented and gave Ruby her answer. "He has blond hair. Are you three happy now? If so I would appreciate it if we all dropped the subject."

Unfortunately for the white haired girl, Yang was anything but done with this subject. "Oh you aren't getting off that easy. There aren't that many blond guys at Beacon, even less in our grade." Yang faked a thinking pose before she snapped her fingers together. "I got it! You were on a date with Jaune!"

Weiss's face went from appalled to rage in a matter of seconds at Yang's proclamation and despite being tired, she took a swipe at the busty blonde. "I was most certainly not! How could you even think that I would even entertain the very notion that I would go out with someone like him! Utterly preposterous!"

Yang couldn't hold back her laughter at the fuming Schnee as she dodged yet another swipe made by the girl. She knew it wasn't Jaune but the reaction was well worth it. Before Yang could continue teasing/interrogating Weiss, she was cut off by her feline teammate. "It couldn't have been Jaune, Yang. Weiss said he had a knack for fighting and Jaune well, he's Jaune."

"Hey he's getting better! I saw him take down an Ursa by himself back in Forever Fall forest. He's gotten way better than when we first saw him on initiation day." Ruby knew that Jaune wasn't the best fighter at Beacon. To be completely fair he was actually one of the worst but that didn't mean that people had to pick on him for it. He was trying to improve after all!

Yang shrugged her shoulders as she relented to Blake's point. "Yeah it's probably not Vomit boy. But that doesn't really leave a lot of options. I don't know why you're hiding who it is Weiss. We're your friends, you're supposed to tell us things like this. Unless of course… Oh my gosh he's ugly isn't he? You're ashamed to be dating him!?"

This time Weiss couldn't respond as she tried to sputter out a coherent retort. Her faced was scarlet with a mix of rage and embarrassment as Yang continued to go through a list of unfortunate physical deformities that she could potentially be 'ashamed' of.

"Maybe he has a really big nose, or a massive overbite, maybe he has six fingers. He could have buck teeth too, or no teeth at all! Or maybe…"

Weiss was all but fuming as Yang continued to go on and on with anything and everything that popped into her head, each suggestion more outrageous than the last. Her anger eventually hit a tipping point as she began swinging her arms angrily before shouting at her teammate. "Naruto is not ugly!"

Her eyes widened in true horror at what she had let slip in her anger, Weiss looked around the room at the several shocked faces that were staring back at her. The room was completely opposite from what it was a few minutes ago as it was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

Weiss took in each of her teammates expressions with apprehension as her secret was now out in the open. Ruby seemed fine with the knowledge, the girl clearly not understanding the nature of the information that was released. She probably didn't see anything strange with Weiss hanging around with Naruto after classes, even more so if they were training. He was one of the strongest fighters in the entire school, he had proven that multiple times over at this point.

Yang was grinning at her like an idiot with her accomplishment of getting the reserved heiress to reveal such a secret. There was something else that Weiss saw in her eyes but she had to have been mistaken. If Weiss didn't know any better she could have sworn that she saw a tinge of jealousy in the blonde's eyes.

If anything it was Blake's face that surprised Weiss the most. The shyest member of their team had been smiling the entire time they had been torturing her for information on her secret meetings but now that fun had faded from her eyes. Replaced by the same indifference that Blake looked at most people with throughout her day. She had even picked up her book again, the tiniest of frowns on her face.

Weiss didn't get a chance to question Blake's sudden shift in mood as Yang was upon her with another onslaught of questions. "I can't believe you've been dating Naruto for a month and you never told us! That changes right now, you're going to tell us everything. Start talking Ice Queen!"

Weiss shoved the pushy blonde away from herself as she moved over to her bed, not at all enjoying being suffocated by the over enthusiastic girl. Letting out a deep sigh, Weiss resigned herself to her fate knowing that Yang would never let it go and the only way out was to just give into the girl's demands. "For the record we are not dating. We've only been training for the last month. After he so easily defeated me in that spar a month ago I asked him to assist me in that facet of my Huntress training. Despite acting…"

"Like a total bitch to him?" Yang supplied helpfully, remembering just how icy she had been to Naruto in their first month at Beacon.

Weiss gave the girl a pointed look before continuing. "rather uncouthly, he agreed to help me. That's where I've been this last month. But I assure you, there is nothing romantic going on between us." Weiss paused to think for a moment before adding a final thought through a mumble. "At least I don't think…"

Ruby decided to hop into the conversation, not at all interested in what Yang was after but the prospect of training with Naruto seemed to entice the young girl. "So that's why you've gotten so much better this last month! I mean you were always strong but lately you've gotten way stronger. Your aura alone has doubled. What kind of training do you guys do? Can I join in?!"

Yang put a hand on her sister's head while still wearing a grin on her face. "Easy there rubes, you do enough training as it is. And I don't think you want to be around for their after training 'activities'."

Weiss didn't like the way Yang phrased that sentence and glared at the boxer in front of her. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

The indignation in her voice was not missed by Yang as she shrugged her shoulders at the accusational tone that Weiss took with her. "What? I mean this training sounds pretty intense and you clearly take a beating. Your clothes are all torn up for one. You have to be sweating up a storm while training yet you always show up here as prim and proper as always. I know for a fact that the school showers are closed at this time so that means you're showering over in his room."

Weiss's face turned two shades of red as she tried to refute the claim but nothing came out. Ruby stared at her teammate with wide eyes as even she wasn't that dense when it came to relationships, she understood what that sort of thing meant as her cheeks started to flush.

A quick glance over at her black haired teammate let her know that Blake was back in the conversation as well as she had dropped her book to look at the white haired heiress with shock. Yang just continued to smirk at her with a knowing look that Weiss absolutely hated. "That's not it at all! Nothing has happened!"

Yang just continued to smirk as she folded her arms under her bust. "Riiiiiiight. We totally believe you at this point."

Weiss growled at the Blonde Boxer as she had more than enough of Yang's games. Telling them the truth was a thousand times better than all the teasing she was receiving. "It's the truth! We haven't done anything that could possibly be considered romantic." The girl paused again as she thought back to an hour ago. "Well, until today…" She added in a quieted afterthought.

For the first time Yang was actually caught off guard and it showed on her face. "I'm sorry but can you repeat that last part?"

Yang knew Weiss pretty well even if the girl didn't think so. Through all of her teasing Yang never once thought that Weiss and Naruto had actually done anything. At most Yang thought that Weiss had just developed a crush on the whiskered blond as they had clearly been spending a lot of time together. But for her to admit that they may have actually gone past the boundaries of friendship, well, Yang hadn't given the heiress nearly enough credit up until now it appeared.

Weiss for her part was still blushing madly as she squeezed her hands together while finding the floor to be oh so interesting. Truth of the matter was she couldn't bear the looks on her friends faces as she went into untouched territory. "Nothing had happened since we had started training together. We would meet, train, and afterwards I would shower in his room. Alone I may add. Then he would heal any wounds I had and I would leave. At most we would make small talk after training."

Yang nodded her head as the other two members of their team seemed perfectly content on just listening. Teasing Weiss had been more fun than Yang could have predicted but that was nothing compared to getting some actual juicy gossip. "And then what happened today?"

Weiss's blush grew slightly while at the same time a small smile came to her face as she gently touched her lips. "He was healing a nasty bruise on my stomach and we were talking about something..." Weiss struggled for a moment to find the right words before continuing. "More personal than usual and things went farther than usual."

Yang bounced over to the white haired girl with an expectant look on her face as she practically rocked the girl back and forth. Yang would be the first to admit that she was a diehard gossip and she _needed_ to know exactly what had happened. "And what exactly happened!?"

The smile on her face grew slightly larger so that it was unmistakable as she answered. "He kissed me."

Yang couldn't help herself as she squealed slightly at the news. This was way more than she had hoped for. When this started Yang thought at most she might find out who Weiss had a crush on but this blew all those expectations out of the water. "That is so cute! I didn't think you had it in you Ice Queen. Though I'm kind of sad really. I always thought I would be the first one here to get a boyfriend."

Weiss's smile weakened slightly at Yang's words. "For the 100th time. We aren't dating Yang. It just kind of happened. I don't know what it means."

Ruby gave her partner a questioningly look. While she didn't have any personal experience in this category she didn't see why Weiss was confused. "What do you mean you don't know? You guys kissed didn't you? Doesn't that mean you both like each other?"

Weiss gave Ruby a look as if asking her if she was serious until she realized just who she was speaking to. Sometimes she forgot that Ruby was two years younger than her. She may act just like the rest of them when it came to being a huntress but when it came to other matters she really showed her true age. "It's not that simple you dolt. And I may have actually got an answer if someone didn't interrupt us with an emergency message!"

Ruby shrunk behind her older sister as Weiss yelled at her for her not so important emergency. How was she supposed to know that Weiss was in the middle of something like that?

Yang on the other hand picked up on what Weiss didn't say and raised an eyebrow at the heiress. "Wait, don't tell me he kissed you and you just ran out of his room without saying anything? Please tell me that's not what happened."

Weiss's blush returned full force as she looked away from her blonde teammate which only made Yang burst into laughter. The girl lost control of her legs as she landed on the bed next to Weiss as she continued to laugh, tears started welling up in her eyes as the scene played out in her head.

Weiss gave Yang a solid smack to the top of the head which did little to curb the laughter coming from the girl. Deciding the girl was a lost cause, Weiss turned to the one member who had been rather quiet since the news had broken. It was true that Weiss was the least close to Blake out of everyone on her team but she had nothing against the girl except for her apparent dislike of her family's company. At the very least Blake wasn't likely to mock her like the girl laughing next to her was. "What do you think I should do Blake? Naruto was your friend before any of us met him, you must know something."

Blake gave Weiss an even look as she gently put her book away as she was clearly not going to be able to get back to her story tonight. Blake did know a lot of things about Naruto and could give the girl a hundred reasons as to why her dating Naruto was a bad idea. Unfortunately, most of those reasons she couldn't openly tell Weiss without betraying all of the trust Naruto had given her since meeting her over two months ago.

She desperately wanted to talk to Naruto and ask him what the hell he was thinking. There were so many things wrong with this situation, she was a Schnee and he was a former officer in the White Fang for crying out loud! Not to mention the fact that he was a Faunus and while Weiss wasn't nearly as bad as people like Cardin, she had shown that she held some mild anti-Faunus views, mostly stemming from her family if Blake had to guess.

Still, Blake couldn't really go into any of that and the pleading look that Weiss gave her made her soften her own expression. The girl was clearly out of her element here and Yang wasn't helping as the girl was still giggling. Ruby wouldn't be much help as she had already shown that her understanding of romantic relationships was limited at best.

Sighing, Blake realized that giving Weiss useful advice fell on her. As the only one in the room that had actually been in a relationship, as unconventional as it was, Blake gave Weiss the only advice that she could. "Honestly? He really hasn't mentioned any of this to me so I don't know what he's thinking. If you want to know what I would do I would just talk to him. Don't message him on your scroll or call him, just go up to him and talk to him. Naruto might not be the best at expressing his emotions but he won't lie to you. I'm sure if you guys talk you'll figure out what your kiss meant."

Weiss seemed to relax at Blake's words and gave the cat Faunus a small smile. "Finally, a voice of reason in this room of insanity. Thank you Blake, I'll talk to him tomorrow after Professor Port's class."

Blake watched as Weiss turned to Yang who was still laying on her bed and unceremoniously pushed the blonde off the bed. Already in her sleep wear, Blake rolled over and away from the impending argument that Weiss's action would cause. Blake really didn't know what to think right now and she needed her own answers from her fellow Faunus. Closing her eyes, Blake drifted off to sleep with a frown on her face.

* * *

 _(Beacon Academy: Ozpin's Office)_

The sounds of mechanical mechanisms filled the room as the gears and cogs moved in perfect unison, never missing a beat as they continued to run the large clock in the clock tower. Ozpin hummed to himself as he poured himself another mug of coffee while going over another report from one of his many hunters.

The lighting up of the screen on his computer drew his attention away from the piece of paper as he noted the time. 11:20 PM, who would be calling him at this hour of the night? His question was answered as the visage of General Ironwood appeared on the screen with a serious expression etched onto his face. "Ah James, it is good to see you."

The strict military man gave his longtime friend a curt nod. "It's good to see you too Ozpin, forgive me for calling so late into the night but it was urgent."

Ozpin waved off the man's concerns as he took a sip from his freshly brewed coffee. "You know as well as I that our line of work keeps us up at all times during the day James. It would be more troubling if I was not awake during this hour. Glynda would have my head if I don't finish these reports come morning."

James's expression softened at the mention of the blonde huntress. A soft chuckle escaped the hardened man's throat at the thought of one of the most powerful men in Remnant brought to heel by the stern woman. "Yes, she is quite prudent about keeping everyone around her on task. I remember having the pleasure to work with her quite a few times. I've never been… more efficient in my life."

Both men shared a small laugh at Glynda's expense. Both of them having felt her wrath when they weren't being as productive as they possibly could have. Ozpin however let out a tired sigh as the laughter ceased. "As much as I would like to believe that this is a social visit, we both know that is not the case. Tell me, what brings you here this late James?"

The Iron Wall of Atlas matched Ozpin's expression as he let the humor fade from his face. "Of course. The scouting party we sent into the Uncharted Territories managed to return. It's worse than we thought Oz."

Ozpin closed his eyes and folded his hands together while resting his chin between them. That was not the news that he had been hoping to hear. Still, he wasn't expecting anything good to come out of that red waste. "What exactly are we looking at here James?"

James's frown deepened as he stared back at his friend and fellow headmaster. "I'm sorry Ozpin, I hate to have to do this but I am out of options. We have all of the information regarding the threat that waits within that barren wasteland and I've already started calculating the appropriate counter measures. Once you arrive here in Atlas we can both go over the information I've managed to collect."

Ozpin stared down the current head of Atlas. James was playing a dangerous game and he knew it. Withholding that kind of information, especially when it was even worse than they thought, could put a serious tension between Vale and Atlas at a time that neither could afford it. But even so, that was how desperate James was. Atlas was at the tipping point and all it needed was one good shove and the carefully balanced peace would come crumbling down.

Above all else, Ironwood wanted to keep the peace and keep the number of bodies that fell to an absolute minimum. It was the main reason why Ozpin had backed his insurrection before either Vacuo or Mistral or even his own Council from Vale had, much to their great displeasure.

Ozpin broke the tension as he relaxed his stare and took another sip from his mug. "Of course. I did promise after all. Though you do need to give me something. How long do we have to prepare for this Grimm incursion?"

The General gave a curt nod as he pressed a few buttons and a topography map of where Vale's territory met the Uncharted Territories popped up. "From our calculations we have one to two months to prepare, three at the absolute most."

Ozpin frowned as he looked at the map and saw the depiction of the Grimm horde slowly moving across the land mass. He knew that with Vale's natural landscape it would take a horde of Grimm of any decent size time to travel the terrain but three months seemed excessive, even for the slowest of Grimm. "That seems a little generous James. I've hunted Grimm my entire life and I don't remember them moving that slowly."

James nodded grimly as his lips thinned. "Normally I would agree with you but we gathered some rather disturbing information that strongly suggests that our timetable is accurate. But we can go over that and more once you arrive. Speaking of, when should I expect you?"

Ozpin hummed to himself as he brought up a few tabs on his computer and cycled through them. "In about a week. There are a few things I need to take care of here before I can make my way across the world to Atlas. People tend to ask questions when Headmasters leave their schools. I need to make sure Glynda has everything she needs to handle anything that may occur while I'm gone."

James nodded at Ozpin's answer, finding it more than acceptable and made a motion to end the call before Ozpin held up his hand. "One more thing General. You wouldn't mind if I brought one of my bright eyed students with me would you?"

A frown tugged at Ironwood's lips but he did his best to keep a neutral face. "You're referring to the Faunus boy, are you not?"

Ozpin gave Ironwood a smile as he took another sip of his ever cooling coffee. "Yes, Naruto is a unique individual. The circumstances surrounding him make me hesitant to leave him unsupervised, for a lack of a better term."

This time James did allow a frown to reach his face as Ozpin described the boy. He had received reports on him after Ozpin had found him a few months ago and he had not liked what he had read. What the boy claimed to be and the multiple theories around his true existence bothered the metal man greatly.

Ironwood of all people understood that there were things in this world that many would consider him insane for believing in and yet they were as real as any dust crystal. The unknowns surrounding the boy only added fuel to the fire with the concerns the man had for the boy, even if Ozpin had seemingly taking a liking to him. "Are you sure that's wise Ozpin?"

"Yes I do. Naruto has vocalized some rather harsh criticisms of how we run our combat academy and I think it would do him some good to see how one of the other top schools run their programs. I think it would be a wonderful learning experience for the young man. Not to mention it wouldn't hurt for him to be able to make some friends his age outside of Beacon. One can never have too many friends after all."

Ironwood regarded his friend with skepticism but eventually just let out a sigh. While this wasn't a deal breaker, it would just make things more difficult if he protested. If anything happened it would fall on Ozpin to take care of it. "Very well. I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to meet the boy, if nothing else but to get a feel for him. I take it you'll be responsible if anything happens while he's here?"

"Of course. He is my student after all. Now if that was your only reason for calling I must let you go. It is getting late and I still have these reports to go through." Receiving a nod from his friend, Ozpin let the transmission die. Setting the report back on his desk Ozpin turned in his chair to face the window looking over his Academy. The news tonight did little to calm the feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had been feeling as of late. He just prayed that his students could weather the storm that was upon them.

* * *

 _(Emerald Forest)_

Naruto laid on a large tree branch as the evening sun slowly began to set on the horizon of the forest near the academy he had taken up residence in. In his hand he twirled his newly forged trench knife. The knives themselves looked relatively the same from when Asuma had wielded them except for two significant changes. The first change resolved around inside of the blade itself and wasn't noticeable to the naked eye.

Ruby had made the suggestion that if Naruto wasn't going to add any kind of firearm component to his weapon, to which he had adamantly refused, that he should at the very least add in dust to add more versatility to his arsenal. At first he hadn't been sold on the idea but after a bit of thought the idea of using the elemental crystals could actually benefit him greatly.

Back home he had only really learned how to control Wind and Water nature chakra and had been rather unsuccessful in mastering lightning style chakra or even being able to produce a flame through his endeavors into fire manipulation. But if using Dust would allow him to expand his technique pool all the better in his mind. Naruto had seen back home what different combinations of elemental techniques could do. Naruto still remembered the time he had seen Temari enhance one of Kakashi's fire Jutsus. That collaboration had all but leveled the entire battlefield, Naruto could only imagine what some of his higher level wind Jutsus could do with the added fuel of fire behind it.

The Dust cartridges were hidden within the base of the blade that connected to the handle. With the application of his chakra the hidden compartment would open up and allow him to refill or exchange the dust for a different variety if he needed it.

The second change was far more noticeable, as a ring slightly larger than his middle finger was placed on the inside of each blade, right over his thumb. The purpose of the rings was to fully utilize the one thing his mother had left behind for him.

Concentrating on his hand, Naruto slowly formed a chain link and watched as more continued to grow out of his hand, his chakra coming together to knit metal into the durable steel. The Adamantine Sealing Chains was something his mother was feared for and something only an Uzumaki could form. Their clan's chakra was special from everyone else, attuned towards regenerative properties and for sealing techniques.

Sealing had never been his strong point and from what his late master had said it never would be. But the chains were more than just a method used for sealing, they were a weapon, both offensively and defensively. Most sealing Jutsus required complex seals and an intricate and detailed knowledge of sealing in general but these chains were different. They only required the user to visualize their chakra knitting itself into the steel chains and to have the reserves required to maintain the special metal as without the fueling chakra the chains would disintegrated into nothingness.

Truly this Jutsu was only meant for Jinchūriki as their massive reserves were required to use these chains in any significant manner. He remembered after his mother had helped him subdue the Nine-Tails the first time she had used the chains and shortly after returning to Konoha he had asked Kakashi about them. It took a bit of digging but they had managed to find some of her old scrolls explaining on how to form them and use them in combat effectively.

It took some time and he was by no means on the same level of his mother when it came to using them but he eventually managed to form the chains at will. Unlike his mother who could form seemingly endless amount of chains from anywhere on her body, Naruto could only produce two chains at a time, one from each hand. But even with the limitation, the chains were a great asset to his arsenal, even more now that he had modified his trench knives so he could use the two in tandem.

The chain that started forming on his hand kept growing until it reached the ring on his trench knife where the metal parted and then reclosed around the metal ring. Naruto then dropped the trench knife and watched as the chain rapidly grew out of his hand to give the knife more and more room to freely drop. Having given it enough room, Naruto halted the chain production and whipped his arm upwards, the chain and knife followed the motion and carved a large gash in a tree 20 feet away from him. Finishing the motion, Naruto recalled the chains back into his flesh until the trench knife was back in his hand. Fully cutting off the flow of his chakra, the last few chain links fell away into nothingness and Naruto returned the knife to the X shaped holster located on the back of his waist. Another suggestion by Ruby as a convenient way to carry and wield his 'new' knives.

Naruto let out another sigh as his mind couldn't stay focused on training. It kept wondering back to yesterday and his moment with Weiss in his bedroom. He couldn't believe that he had actually kissed the girl. He knew well enough that he had developed some type of feelings for the girl over the last month or so but he had never meant to act on those feelings.

He was actually surprised with himself, out of all the girls at Beacon, Weiss was the one girl that he had never imagined himself liking, at least in that fashion. She was everything he wasn't. She was rich beyond measure and he had grown up with literally only the shirt on his back. For the majority of his life, right up until a year or two ago he was hated by the majority of people in his village and by her name alone Weiss was loved or if not at the very least respected. She was uptight, spoiled, and had no earthly idea of what the real world was like, what it was like to live on one's own and have to fight the world just to survive.

But for all the things she wasn't, Naruto had learned of quite a few things about the girl that he hadn't expected. Despite her obscene wealth her childhood was not pleasant. A rather cold family coupled with countless hours practicing everything one could imagine had left her completely alone minus her elder sister who Naruto had only recently learned about. Winter seemed to be the one shining light for Weiss in her otherwise lonely childhood.

The girl also had an ambition and a pretty noble one if Naruto was honest with himself. She wanted to restore her family name to what it once was, not what it had become, enveloped in widespread corruption, cruelty and racism. That was no small task given the infamy accompanied with the Schnee name in the modern age.

The girl had also surprised him as she wasn't nearly as cold as she tried to portray herself as. To those around her, her team being a shining example, she cared for them deeply and tried her best to take care of them, in her own special way. Not to mention the girl was absolutely beautiful and was the definition of elegance.

All in all, she was pretty amazing to Naruto, even with her flaws. Still, what he had done was completely out of line. Other than the fact that he had no idea how she felt about it considering she ran away immediately, there was another problem with him liking the girl.

He was going to leave. One way or another he had to find a way home. How could he fall for someone and then just leave them? Not only would it hurt him but what about Weiss? If she actually liked him back and they dated how could he just up and leave her? He knew the answer deep down and it scared him. He couldn't.

If he fell in love with anyone he wouldn't be able to bring himself to leave that person. Even when Hinata had died he had only recently been able to let her go, there was no way he would abandon someone he had grown to love if they were still alive.

That led to his main problem, he needed to leave. He had no idea how or when but he had to leave to finish the war. It was started over him and he would be damned if he just ran away from it. Too many good people had died for him to be able to do that.

Knowing that still didn't help get rid of the ache in his heart at the thought of not being with Weiss. He knew it wasn't love but a part of him, a rather large part at that, wanted to see if it could turn into that.

Naruto let out a deep sigh before a twig snapping brought his attention to his surrounding area. Looking down from his branch, Naruto spotted the cat-like eyes of Blake starring back at him. "Hey." He drawled in a tired manner.

Blake starred back at Naruto for a few moments before she responded. "You didn't come to classes today."

Naruto noticed the little bit of bite in her tone but decided to not comment on it. "Yeah, I had some things I needed to sort out. Needed some peace and quiet to think, you know?"

With one graceful motion, Blake leapt up to the branch that Naruto was sitting on and sat down next to him, the branch more than large enough to fit them both comfortably. "Thinking about Weiss?"

Naruto's eyes widened momentarily before he just let out a small chuckle. "Weiss told you guys about what happened yesterday?"

Blake shrugged her shoulders as she looked out at the forest that was bathed in the dying light of the day. "Not willingly, Yang practically beat it out of her."

At that Naruto did let out a laugh as he shook his head. "Of course she did." A few moment's passed before Naruto asked Blake the obvious question. "So, what did she say exactly?"

Blake rolled her eyes and shook her head at her fellow Faunus. "Oh no, I am not going to be the little messenger that goes between whatever you two have going. I'm going to tell you the same thing that I told Weiss, go talk to her."

Naruto had the decency to look sheepish as he scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Yeah, I should probably do that. Once I figure out what to say that is."

Blake regarded him strangely as she watched the indecisiveness play across his face. Ever since she had met him he had never seemed to second guess himself on anything. It was strange to see him like this. Perhaps matters of the heart were his weak point? It would make sense given how awkward he would act around Yang when she would purposely flaunt herself to mess with him.

Even though she didn't want to play the messenger, the reason Blake had sought Naruto out did involve her white haired teammate. "Naruto. I don't understand. Maybe you can help me understand. Why Weiss?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to look at the girl strangely. When she didn't elaborate, Naruto merely shrugged his shoulders. "There are lots of reasons. So I have to ask, why not?"

Blake turned to Naruto and raised her voice as she all but shouted at him. "She's a Schnee!"

Naruto's slight confusion turned into understanding as he saw the look of betrayal in the girl's eyes. The way she practically yelled at him made it seem like her family name explained it all, and in a few ways it actually did. Everyone knew that the White Fang had a very personal grudge against the Schnee family in particular. They were one of the most prominent figures in the world that actively fought against the equal rights for Faunus. Weiss's father had personally made an assortment of speeches coming out against the White Fang and tried to wash the entire Faunus populace as White Fang supporters.

If there was one family in Remnant that you could label as anti-Faunus it would be the Schnee family. Not only were their public comments anti-Faunus but their business practices were the real danger. They didn't merely talk the talk in this sense as they made good on their rhetoric whenever they could. The mistreatment of workers all the way to displacing Faunus towns and villages for their companies benefit and everything in between. The worst part is the company never denied that they did these things, they merely tried to cover it up when it was simple enough.

But Weiss wasn't her father, that he knew without a doubt. His influence was certainly there but it wasn't embedded into her soul and the very things that the White Fang hated about her father and her family were the same things that Weiss wanted to change. "And? She wasn't the one that set up the SDC. She wasn't the one that forced entire towns of Faunus to up and relocate with no support. She wasn't the one that allowed for the mistreatment of Faunus in her family's company. She isn't her father."

Blake wanted to dispute what he said but she knew it was true enough. Sure, she put off the air of every Schnee that had been known to the public but she wasn't the same. Blake had noticed that while the girl did hold some misgivings for Faunus in general, she lacked the hate that the head of the Schnee family was so well known for. "She might not be but do you really think that she would accept us for who we are? Even if she isn't full of hate you know she doesn't hold any love for Faunus in her heart. I've seen it and I'm sure you have too."

Naruto started to feel anger raise in him as Blake continued to attack Weiss's character, the fact that those attacks were based in fact none withstanding. "It hasn't seemed to bother her when she's with me!"

Blake recoiled as Naruto yelled at her and took a step back, disbelief filling her face. "Y-you told her?"

Naruto sighed internally as he tried to calm himself. He didn't mean to explode at Blake. She was only trying to look out for him as a friend, even if the way she was doing it angered him. "Not exactly, but it's not like I can really hide these marks right?" Naruto said with a halfhearted laugh as he gestured to the whisker-like scars on his face.

Confusion returned to Blake's face as she pointed to his face. "Naruto, you know just like everyone else that whiskers aren't a trait that Faunus have."

He did not know that and quickly shifted his head to the side to avoid her noticing his surprise. That was a mistake that he could not afford to make if he was going to keep his cover as a Faunus. He needed to think of something fast before she started asking other questions, questions he didn't have answers to.

Blake on the other hand took him turning away from her as something else. She saw him withdrawing into himself, remembering something that he would rather not. He had done it before, mostly whenever she would bring up the times before he joined the White Fang. She knew that he had a very troubled childhood, maybe even worse than hers if the way he avoided talking about it was any indication.

Her features softened as she walked over to his spot and sat down next to him. An apologetic look came to her face as she rested a hand on his shoulder. "Those aren't birth marks, are they?"

She felt his shoulders sag at her words before she heard his voice. His heard turned not to her but to the forest that was still being illuminated by twilight. "I guess I've been away from my home so long I've forgotten that out here these marks don't mean anything. I always wore a mask while in the White Fang so no one said anything so I must have just forgotten that no one knows."

He took a deep breath before continuing. "In my home village I was hated. It's not surprising since I was the only Faunus in the entire village of thousands. My parent's died in a Grimm attack the day I was born. A massive foxlike Grimm attacked and killed hundreds before it was repelled. I was left alone in the aftermath. The people always placed blame on me for the Grimm attack as dumb as it was. My mother was a Fox Faunus and the Grimm that attacked was foxlike. It was a good enough justification to them, even more so when they were drunk."

Blake remained silent as Naruto told his story, interested while at the same time a knot formed in her stomach as she started to realize where this particular story was going.

"When I was young, maybe 6? I can't remember anymore. I found a way to use my aura to change my eyes so that they looked 'normal'. Well that upset more than a few of the villagers and during one of our festivals a group of villagers chased me. Eventually they caught me, I still remember the overbearing smell of alcohol that rolled off of them. They told me that this was my fault, that if I didn't hide my eyes they wouldn't have to do what they did."

Naruto brought up his finger and traced each whisker like scar on his face. "One of them took a knife and slowly carved in each whisker mark, deep enough that the scars would be visible for all to see and so that I couldn't cover them up. That way the entire world would know what I was, no matter what. That was my birthday present, very thoughtful of them." He let out a dead laugh at the last statement.

Naruto didn't turn to look at the girl next to him, not able to look her in the eye. The story was true for the most part, everything but the knife carving was true. Instead he had merely received a beating from a drunk mob during the annual festival celebrating the demon's defeat. Of course the mob didn't last long as the Anbu showed up quickly enough and put an end to it. Surprisingly enough, something like that never happened again, more than likely the doing of the 3rd Hokage, bless his soul.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly he felt a slender arm wrap around his right shoulder and a weight place itself on his left. Looking down, Naruto saw a black tuff of hair and a black bow that belonged to Blake. He could tell by the girl's body language that she was anything but comfortable with the close contact but she made no move to remove herself from him, clearly feeling the need to comfort him outweighing any of her personal reservations.

Instead of commenting on it however, he merely let the silence between them grow as he rested his own head on top of hers. Her hair was soft and the slight movements of her cat ears tickled him as it made her bow dance across his skin. It had been so long since he had anyone try to comfort him like this. It was always nice or concerned words that were put on him when something had happened. People truly underestimated just how much good someone could do just by being there, it put him more at peace than any amount of kind words ever could.

Naruto relaxed further into her semi-embrace as the two sat there in the peaceful forest, the sun reflecting through the forest to give it a beautiful orange hue. Naruto didn't know how long they stayed like that but was brought out of his thoughts as Blake's voice reached out to him softly.

"If you're serious about doing this with Weiss then you need to tell her. Keeping something like this from her will only cause problems down the line. If you honestly believe that she won't care, then you have nothing to worry about. If she has feelings for you she _shouldn't_ care."

Naruto didn't miss the way she emphasized the last part and could only let out a sigh. It was clear that Blake still didn't like the idea on principle but at least she wasn't going to actively oppose it. It was better than nothing he supposed. "She won't, I know she won't. The next time we're alone I'll tell her."

Despite his words Naruto couldn't shake the small feeling of dread that started to form inside of him. What if she cared? What if that was something she couldn't get passed? It never occurred to him that her family's prejudices could actually prevent anything from happening between the two of them.

He knew that if something like him being a Faunus would make Weiss think twice about dating him then he wouldn't want to date her in the first place. That thought did nothing however to quell that fear of rejection that was now growing stronger. He had a lot to think about…

* * *

 _(Emerald Forest)_

Naruto leapt through the forest at break neck speed as he moved skillfully from one branch to another. The forest floor beneath him was nothing but a blur as he pumped chakra into his legs. He needed to hurry if he didn't want to be late!

Naruto cursed himself for the hundredth time as the fading light of the day was just about to vanish. He had spent far too much time with Blake, losing himself in his thoughts as they just sat there in a comfortable silence. Despite himself he was actually happy that she had sought him out the way she had.

Everything had been happening so fast he hadn't actually taken any time to sit and think. Never truly giving himself the time to sit back and unwind in any meaningful way. From being in the middle of a continental wide war to being thrown into a new world where he needed to keep up a cover story of being an ex-terrorist, he hadn't even thought about just taking a day to really think.

Weiss had been the original cause of this break but it had quickly devolved into thinking of the Elemental Nations after Blake had brought up his birth marks. The relatively small lie had forced him mind to wander to other things, namely the events leading up to his departure from his home.

How many months had it been since he had been ripped from his home? The war would continue with or without him. How many of his friends had fallen in his absence? How many innocents were caught up in the crossfire because he wasn't there to prevent it? Those questions tore at his mind as he tried to convince himself that the worst case scenario had not come to pass.

He had Blake to thank for not breaking down completely as those thoughts threatened to consume him. Her presence, silent as it may have been, calmed him. The small form of comfort that was her head resting on his shoulder had done more to steady his mind than he was willing to admit. He knew the girl was not at all comfortable with showing any kind of affection or physical closeness which made her actions all the more meaningful to him. She had swallowed her own personal insecurities to try and help him with his own.

She was warm and soft, her presence calming the raging tsunami of emotions that swirled within him as his overactive imagination took control. He took solace in her and had spent the better part of two hours with her with little more than a few words spoken after he told her his story. It seemed appropriate at the time, what could really be said that hadn't already?

But that led to the unfortunate situation he was currently in. He had allowed her comfort to let him lose track of time and now he was rushing to get to Vale so as to not be late to his shift. After his little chat with Ozpin, Naruto had taken up the man on his joke and had found a part time job. It was a quaint little dust shop name _From Dust Till Dawn_. The old man that ran the store had been looking for someone to work the weekends and night shifts, preferably someone who could handle themselves as there had been a string of robberies going around Vale. Surprisingly it had only been dust shops that were being hit.

The shop keeper had been ecstatic to learn that Naruto was a hunter in training and had offered him the job on the spot. The little shop didn't pay amazingly but it was exactly what Naruto was looking for and the work wasn't too hard. Now all he had to do was get there on time so he didn't get chewed out by the little man.

Looking at his scroll, Naruto let out a small sigh of relief. If he kept up this pace he should be able to get to work with a few minutes to spare. The grin that had come to his face quickly vanished however as a wave of grief washed over him.

Landing on the branch in front of him, Naruto stopped for a moment as he brought his hand over his heart. He knew that the grief was not his own but damn did it feel real. He knew the kind of sadness that came with this type of grief, it was the pain of loss.

Dropping to the forest floor, Naruto slowly moved through the foliage as he zeroed in on the source of negative emotion. As he continued moving forward the feeling of grief grew stronger and it took all of his mental strength to force it away. It was hard at first he had realized, being able to feel the negative emotions of others. It was one of the powers he had gotten from the demon within him that he could certainly have lived without.

It could be suffocating at times, more so when it was more than one person that was giving off said emotion. The most notable in his career had been having to overcome the waves of fear that threatened to swallow him whole during the war. It wasn't his own fear that had nearly crippled him. No, it was the collective fear of thousands of shinobi not knowing if they would survive the coming battle that had done him in. If the number of emotions were vast enough or if a single emotion was strong enough it had the potential to bleed over into his own emotions and influence him.

It had taken time but he had eventually learned how to separate his emotions from the invading ones. Now he was able to keep the feeling near him without letting it affect his own emotions. It allowed him to focus in on individual emotions and find the person it was emanating from, like what he was doing right now.

Pushing past another dense bush, Naruto stopped as his eyes slightly widened at the scene in front of him. The forest came to an abrupt end as the ground came to a point to form a cliff overlooking the city of Vale. On the edge of the cliff sat a gravestone, completely out of place with the otherwise untouched forest.

It wasn't the gravestone however that held his attention, it was the small girl clad in an oversized red cloak that was kneeling before the grave. His eyes softened as he realized that the overwhelming sense of grief and sadness was coming from the little girl in front of him.

He knew the girl was suffering from something devastating. He had been around her enough over the last two months at Beacon to pick up on her mild depression. She hid it well and if it wasn't for his ability to pick up on extreme negative emotions he would have never known or even thought about the normally bubbly girl falling victim to something like this. _"Ruby…"_

He made to rise from his spot behind the bush but was stopped by a quieted voice from behind him. "I wouldn't go out there if I were you."

Unbidden by the words, Naruto slowly stood from his spot and turned around to look at the middle aged man who had given him the order. The man was in his late 20's or maybe early 30's, Naruto couldn't really tell. He had shaggy dirty blond hair and the beginning of a scruffy beard that made him look like he simply forgot to shave this morning. He wore a beige shirt with a brown vest over it with matching light brown pants. The sleeve on his right arm had been cut off in favor of showing off showing off some kind of tattoo that ran around his bicep. He also had a silver pauldron and a leather glove that ran up his right forearm.

The man's lilac eyes were sharp as they glared daggers at the young shinobi and to anyone else it may have been intimidating but to Naruto it was more annoying than anything else. It wasn't arrogance per se, it was the simple fact that he had yet to run into anyone in this world that had given him reason to be nervous.

"What do you think you're doing here?"

The man's words had an icy edge to them that took Naruto by surprise. As far as he was concerned the Emerald Forest was part of Beacon's campus. A quick glance back to the grave and the kneeling girl corrected his line of thinking. It wasn't the forest the man was talking about; it was this grave. "I was just on my way to Vale when I noticed Ruby. I've never seen her like this, I wanted to make sure she was ok."

The words didn't seem to please the man as his eyes narrowed. The man made no movements other than shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "She's fine. Leave her be. She just needs to be alone right now."

Anger swelled within Naruto's chest as the man dismissed the grieving girl just out of ear shot. Who was he to tell him what to do when it came to his friends? How could he look at her the way she was right now and say she was perfectly fine? "And who are you?"

The man didn't miss the challenge in Naruto's tone. The unspoken words clearly being conveyed. _Why should I listen to you?_

Dirty blond hair rustled as the man unfolded his arms and took a step forward. Naruto felt his muscles tense slightly in anticipation of any aggression from the older man.

"I'm her father and _this_ " the man gestured towards the gravesite. "is my wife's grave. I know my little girl better than anyone and I know that right now she doesn't want to be bothered by anyone. I'm going to ask you one last time. Leave."

Naruto regarded the man in front of him with a little more caution as he squared his shoulders to the man. Naruto knew a little about Taiyang Xiao Long. Ruby and Yang had mentioned him in passing once or twice but Naruto's own research had revealed somethings about the man.

In what little spare time he had, Naruto had taken to learning some of the more prominent names throughout Vale and to a lesser extent Remnant. He mostly focused on Hunters/Huntresses as those were truly the ones he would need to worry about. Even though he had yet to see a fully trained hunter fight seriously he didn't want to underestimate any of them. The students at Beacon, while far below his own level, were still students and had a long way to go. If the students could reach Chunin levels of skill than there was absolutely no reason that the adults couldn't reach Jounin levels given enough time or the nature of their semblance.

Taiyang had been one of the bigger names he had run across when he had looked into Vale's hunters. The man had been around the game for a long time and had taken up teaching at Signal academy over on the island of Patch. The Lion of Patch if he recalled the nickname correctly. It fit at least, the man looked the part with his hair. At least he knew what parent Yang got it from.

He didn't think he was in any danger of actually being attacked though. Ruby had complained a thousand times about how overprotective her father was and trying to intimidate a teenager that may intrude on a rather personal time for his daughter seemed right up his alley. Heaven help the girl's first boyfriend.

Still, Ruby's emotions were still pulling at the reaches of his mind and he had to fight the urge to go over there and try and soothe the girl. "You are honestly telling me she's fine? Can't you see how distraught she is? To me it looks like she needs someone now more than ever."

Taiyang didn't seem to appreciate his opinion if the snarl that escaped the man's lips was any indication. He took a step forward as the man let out a harsh whisper, careful to not be loud enough to be heard by his youngest daughter. "Don't you dare presume to know what my daughter needs. You've known her for what? Two months? You have no idea what she's been through, no idea just how strong she is."

Naruto narrowed his eyes on the man as he finished his sentence. Taiyang clearly picking up on the action as he let a smug grin come up to his face, not unlike the one's he'd see on Yang when she would one up him. "Oh I know who you are. Naruto Uzumaki, first year at Beacon with a rather checkered past. I take notice when my girls say they've made a new male friend."

" _Ozpin."_ Naruto growled in his head. No doubt Taiyang had gone to the headmaster for information on him. He had to wonder just how much he already knew. Best keep quiet unless something slips that he didn't already know. "Then you know why I want to go out there. Ruby's my friend, hell, she basically rebuilt my weapon from the ground up not that long ago. I don't like seeing my friends suffer, especially if I can do something to help her."

The overprotective father's eyes softened slightly at the mention of his daughter rebuilding the boy's weapon. Naruto could've sworn he even heard a soft mumble along the lines of 'not surprised'. Despite that the man still didn't appear keen on letting Naruto go out there. "Friend or not, what exactly are you going to do for her? What could you possibly do to help her with losing her mother?"

Naruto turned to look at the girl still kneeling by the grave, her shoulders dropping every few seconds as no doubt sobs racked her. He looked back at the girl's father not with an angry expression or a challenging grin, but a look of sadness and eyes that showed understanding. "I can be there. That's all anyone can do."

Taiyang stared at the boy in front of him for what felt like hours as he looked for something, anything that might reveal some kind of ulterior motive. A small curse escaped his lips as he couldn't find what he wanted, those eyes being far more expressive than anything the boy had said.

Taiyang knew that look. He knew that look well. That was a look of someone who had lost someone important, a certain understanding that only someone who had lost someone truly important could give. With a deep sigh he made a moving gesture with his hands toward the clearing. "Fine, do what you want but I swear to whatever god is watching if you try anything funny I will mount your head above my fireplace."

Death threat aside, Naruto gave the man a thankful smile as he moved his way towards the weapon enthused girl. He wasn't sure if it was because of his quiet footsteps or the fact that the girl was so out of it but she never turned towards him as he approached. Standing right behind her and still she hadn't turned away from the grave.

Naruto knew now why her father was standing just out of sight. He wanted to give her privacy while at the same time protect her. In the state she was in right now a small bunny could come up and kill her, let alone a Grimm. Naruto knelt down behind the girl, both knees touched the ground as he reached a hand out and lightly grabbed her shoulder. "Ruby…"

The small girl jumped and spun to face him, her eyes wide and breathing ceased as she looked at him startled. It only took a few moments for the girl to realize who it was as she instantly went to wiping the tears away that covered her face, even as more came streaming out of her puffy red eyes. "N-Naruto, what are you doing here?"

The shinobi in question gave the girl a sad look as she hiccupped through the sentence, desperately trying to fight back the sobs that threatened to come out. It pained him to see her like this. She was his friend and she was hurt. That was the only thought running through Naruto's mind as he reached out and grabbed the girl by the shoulders before gently bringing her into his chest and hugged her for all he was worth.

At first she seemed to struggle against his hold but quickly her resistance faded as her body started to shake, her hands latching onto to Naruto's shirt in a death grip. Naruto rocked gently as the first sob came from the teen in his arms, his arms wrapping protectively around the girl as the tears started falling unimpeded.

"I miss her; I miss her so much!" Naruto heard Ruby moan as she buried her face into his chest, all emotional barriers seemingly collapsing. Not that there was much there to begin with when he had come upon her. He quietly placated her with soft whispers of understanding as she cried into him, his arm gently rubbing her back.

Naruto fought the urge to shed tears himself as her pure emotion chipped away at his own fortified emotions. With every wail of agony, he fought it harder, he couldn't afford to break down here. Ruby needed this more than he did, he knew how to handle his emotions, he was taught how. Ruby, while not that much younger than himself, didn't have that kind of training. She didn't know how to handle that kind of grief and it showed, oh Kami did it show.

Squeezing the small girl tighter, Naruto looked up from the mass of red and black below him and looked at the gravestone for the first time, his eyes drawn to the words written on it.

 _Here lies Summer Rose_

" _Thus kindly, I scatter."_

* * *

 **Holy fuck, what a way to end the chapter eh? Now the thing is, I had an entire different scene already written and planned to include in this chapter but it just seemed too much. Already pushed past 13k and this scene would probably take another 3-4k and honestly, if you put too much in a single chapter you tend to lose focus on things that happen and I don't want that. Everything I write is important damnit and deserves to be remembered!**

 **Horrid ego aside, there is something to be said for being able to sit and digest events and not ramming through them one after another. Also while I was editing and rereading it just seemed right to end it where I did. The feels were strong and going into the next scene would just cheapen the moment between Naruto and Ruby in this scene.**

 **Now for the chapter itself as I just want to hit a few points. A lot happened here so I'm going to summarize. Weiss and Naruto are pretty confused as many teenagers are in regards to romantic relationships. In defense of Naruto's actions, you can say that Naruto should be experienced in these situations since he was with Hinata but honestly that doesn't really apply here. Hinata clearly demonstrated she loved Naruto during the Pein invasion. There was no guess work to be had when she nearly died for him. Weiss is a complete question mark to the blond not to mention his other grievances that he struggled with this chapter.**

 **Blake has her own reservations that she clearly expressed to Naruto. Please keep in mind that at this point Blake is not close to her team at all yet as her reveal and make up with her team has not happened. She's still as jaded as we first met her, even more so when it comes to a Schnee. She's honestly closer to Naruto than anyone from their 'shared' past, which is why this stings deep for the girl. Could it be more than just that though? I'll let you all decide that for yourselves.**

 **Ozpin and Ironwood are slowly but surely working out whatever the hell is going on in the west while dealing with the issues of Atlas at the same time. I mean I know what's going on and dear god is that going to be epic once I get to it, I'm so pumped from writing that arc once it becomes the main focus.**

 **And last but not least the final scene. Ruby is broken as a character; she always has been despite her best attempts at hiding it in canon. I'm sure I've said it before but the song Red Like Roses part 2 gives the clearest and in my opinion the most honest look into her psyche. That song is straight up depressing if you break down the lyrics line by line, which I did just so I could get the true level of despair that Ruby felt so I could write this scene just the way I wanted it written.**

 **Naruto finding her at her weakest moment where all she wants is something to take away the pain, well it's not hard to imagine that she would latch onto any kind of support like that once all her mental barriers are down.**

 **Regardless, that's the chapter and I hope you all enjoyed. Currently working on A Different Result, A New Beginning and I want that out relatively soon as I'm actually pretty close to finishing it, maybe even this weekend if time allows. Leave a review if you all could be so kind and have a great day! Damn customer service mentality bleeding through into my AN…**

 **ONE MORE THING: really quick, I am actually interested in getting a beta for either this story or all my stories, yes, that even means my Naruto Young Justice Crossover, I haven't given up on that story, even if everyone else has…**

 **Regardless, I have always just done my own thing in editing and what not but I wouldn't mind someone to actually proofread over my own mistakes as its nearly impossible to catch all of your own mistakes, that's just how writing is. Also you would double as a spring board for any insane ideas that I have for the story. If interested send me a PM and we'll chat.**


	6. Fairy Tales

**Look who's back? Gone again for quite a bit of time but that's life. Worked a ton of overtime at my job before switching careers as I just wasn't happy where I was at and needed a change. So far, I'm actually a lot happier with my new job, it also helps that I'm making more money and have better benefits.**

 **But none of you give a rat's ass about that, you're here to read what is hopefully a fun and enjoyable chapter of this fair story. That being said, I've done a lot of critical review of my past stories and my writing style and after reading quite a bit of an author I deeply respect I've realized a major flaw with how I write. Now that I realize it I can work on fixing it and making my stories even better. Always improving, that's the goal.**

 **Also for those of you interested, I have released a new story, this one is a pure RWBY fic that is Jaune centric. So once you finish up here go check that out if you're so inclined.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing besides an ever-dwindling amount of student debt. Only 10 more years of consistent payments and I'll be debt free (cries internally)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Fairy Tales**

With a grunt, Naruto moved the final box of dust crystals into the back room. Normally such a task would have been done hours ago with the use of his clones but not today, he needed the distraction. A solemn expression occupied his face, his eyes not truly looking at anything as he rested his chin on the highest stack of boxes in the storage room. While he had been late and was halfheartedly chewed out by the little old man that ran the shop, that wasn't what had soured his mood.

The image of a passed-out Ruby occupied his mind. He still remembered her tear stained face nestled into his chest from only a few short hours ago. The poor girl had cried herself into sweet unconsciousness after he had found her, the emotional barriers she had carefully constructed for herself were simply washed away.

It was hard to imagine that a girl as sweet and innocent as Ruby would be harboring such emotional scars. She hid it well. It was almost scary just how well the girl could hide it. It made him wonder if anyone else on her team knew what exactly she was going through. Yang of course would know but the rest of her team probably had no idea.

He sighed to himself as he worked his way out of the storage room and to the front counter, the bulk of his duties already dealt with. The clone he had working the counter made itself scarce upon seeing him walk out of the back. Naruto idly waved away the smoke that lingered from the destroyed clone.

After Ruby had fallen asleep he had carried the girl over to her waiting father. There were no angry gestures or cross words exchanged, just a grunt of acceptance when he had handed the smaller girl to the middle-aged man. He made a mental note to check up on her when he got back to Beacon. He had a nagging suspicion that she would try to write everything off as being fine but he still had to try.

A buzzing from his pocket drew his attention away from the completely dead store. Pulling out his scroll a grimace found its way onto his face as he saw who the message was from. And there was his other problem. He took a few moments to look at Weiss' image before sighing to himself and opening the message.

" _We need to talk. Can I meet you in your room tonight?"_

Short and to the point, he honestly didn't know what else he would have expected from the heiress. Still, not answering her message wasn't an option. He had already skipped all his classes to avoid her, ignoring her any more would just further irritate her. That wasn't something he wanted, he didn't really know what he wanted but he definitely didn't want that.

With a frustrated groan, Naruto fired back a quick response to the white-haired beauty that he had been avoiding.

" _Not tonight, I was late to work tonight so I have to stay later than normal. Can we meet up tomorrow?"_

With a press of a finger the message was sent. Naruto quickly pressed a few more buttons on his scroll and began going through his contacts. He had spent the better part of the day trying to figure out what he was going to do with Weiss. After all this time, he still didn't have a definitive answer. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He did have an answer, he just couldn't bring himself to act on it.

His finger came to a stop on his scroll before he punched the icon, a familiar visage came onto his screen, emerald eyes staring back in mild surprise. _"Hello!"_

A small smile worked its way to his face despite himself. "Hey Pyrrha. Do you have a minute? I kind of need some advice."

If the girl was surprised she did well in hiding it. She only gave him a warm smile in response. _"Of course, what can I he-"_

The red-haired champion was cut off by a loud crashing noise from behind her and what could only be described as a girly scream of pain. Naruto could only raise an eyebrow in question as Pyrrha looked at him with a nervous expression. "Nora?"

" _Please! My legs can't take it anymore! I give, I give!"_ Jaune's strained voice could be clearly heard through the scroll before a thundering laugh broke out. _"I told you! You may be our glorious leader but I'm Queen of the Castle! Bow before my majesty!"_

With a smile that looked painful to hold, Pyrrha merely nodded. _"Nora."_ Another loud crash and a far more masculine groan came through the scroll and Naruto could only pray for the survival of the male population of team JNPR. "Is this… normal?"

Another loud crash resonated through the phone and what looked to be a chair flew past Pyrrha as the girl laughed nervously. _"It happens more than one would expect. Perhaps it would be better if we spoke in person? That way there would be less… distractions. Should I come to your room?"_

Naruto let out a sigh and shook his head in the negative. "Unfortunately, I'm at work right now so that's a no go. Don't worry about it Pyrrha, I'll figure it out on my own. Thanks anyway. I should get back to work. Cya."

He didn't give her a chance to respond as he quickly cancelled the call. The frown that was on her face was the last thing he saw but he quickly wiped it from his thoughts. What had he been thinking anyway? Sure, Pyrrha was his friend, maybe even one of his closer friends at Beacon but that didn't mean they were close enough to talk about something like this.

Naruto ran his hands through his hair and roughly rubbed his hands against his scalp in frustration. This entire thing was making him crazy. He couldn't let himself fall for Weiss. He knew this. Every single logical part of himself knew that nothing good would come from getting involved with her.

Then why did he feel awful at the idea of not even trying? Her smile, the rare genuine smile that he had only seen a few times, it made his heart melt. The confidence she radiated was something he couldn't help but admire. And the way she pouted when she was wrong about something was adorable.

Growling at his treacherous mind, Naruto tried to get rid of the thoughts all together by cleaning anything and everything in the shop. Sadly, the tasks were mostly mindless and the shop itself was rather well kept, thus allowing his mind to wander back to the girl in white.

A bell brought his attention back to the front of the store. Working his way out of the back aisle, Naruto quickly made his way to the front counter. "Welcome to Dust Till Dawn, how can I he- Pyrrha?"

True to his words the red-haired girl stood in the doorway wearing her normal combat clothes with her weapons, Miló and Akoúo̱, strapped firmly to her back. She seemed slightly uncertain until her eyes landed on Naruto, her pensive lips instantly turning into a smile. "Hello again!"

Confusion marred his face as he regarded the girl and couldn't stop that from leaking over into his voice. Hadn't he just spoken with her a few minutes ago? He glanced at his scroll and to his surprise over an hour had passed since their conversation. He shook his head at his lack of attentiveness. This was starting to affect him more than he thought.

Naruto looked back to the Spartan girl and could only question as to her sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?"

The girl took a few steps forward, patting the small pouch on her hip. "Well, I realized I was running low on my dust ammunition so I thought I would come to Vale to stock up before classes resumed next week."

Naruto could only raise an eyebrow at her claim. "Beacon has stores of regular dust ammunition, hell, I've seen you stock up on ammunition _at_ Beacon."

Pyrrha looked sheepish at the comment, her hand scratching the back of her head absentmindedly. "Ah, right. Of course, well… I just…"

The girl let loose a weakened sigh, her shoulders slumping slightly. "I was worried about you and I wanted to make sure everything was ok. You've never asked me for advice before so I thought it may be serious. That was just an excuse I gave my team so they knew why I was leaving. Not that I'm sure they heard me with how Nora was acting…"

Naruto couldn't help but smile at her. He honestly shouldn't have been surprised given the randomness of his call. That was just how Pyrrha was. If she thought one of her friends needed her help she would do so. He had seen it more than once at his time at Beacon, though it was mostly directed at her blond partner more than anyone else. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to worry you. It was stupid. You really don't have to worry about it. You definitely didn't need to make a trip all the way to Vale. I'm fine."

Pyrrha's guilty look morphed into a concerned one as a frown marred her face. "You know. Even though I didn't necessarily enjoy my time as a celebrity I did learn a few things from it. One of those things was I learned how to put on a fake smile, no matter what I was feeling. I also learned how to notice when someone was giving me one in return."

Naruto watched her as she moved up to the counter and rested a hand on top of his. "You can talk to me about whatever it is that's bothering you. I like to think that we're friends. Let me help you."

Naruto looked at her hand, despite the glove covering it he could still feel the warmth coming from it. Turning away from the glove, he looked into her eyes and could only see compassion in them. He let out a sigh as he shook his head, he didn't really have a good reason to deny her at this point, did he?

"It's… complicated. I know what I should do but I just… I don't know."

Pyrrha nodded in understanding. "Your mind is telling you one thing but your heart is telling you another. I know the feeling. I had a situation like that before I came to Beacon. It was when I was deciding on which combat school to attend."

Naruto moved away from the 4-time champion, pulling his hand from her grasp as he moved to the till to double check he had the correct amount of lien. He didn't however tune her out, his eyes glancing back to her occasionally to let her know he was listening. "Oh? And how did you decide?"

She smiled at him, seemingly pleased that he was listening to her. "Well, my mind told me that going to Haven Academy would be the best for me. I was fairly popular in Mistral and I would have been close to my family. I would have had every single advantage I could have wanted if I had attended the school. I would have been foolish not to."

Putting the lien back in the till, Naruto turned towards Pyrrha again. "And yet you're here."

"And yet I'm here."

Naruto looked at the girl who gave him nothing but a serene smile. He waited for her to continue, genuinely curious as to her reasoning. After a few moments, the girl continued. "Despite that, my heart told me to go to Beacon. What mattered was that I knew that I wouldn't be happy if I had gone to Haven. For me, all those advantages didn't mean anything if I was miserable. So, I decided that I would rather be happy and I would handle things as they came up. So far I feel like I've made the right decision."

Naruto let out a soft chuckle as he remembered something he had overheard the girl say a while ago. "Let the chips fall where they may. Is that it?"

She smiled at him, her emerald eyes shining as she did. "Preciously."

Naruto hummed to himself as he considered her words. Would it really be that easy? To throw caution to the wind and just handle things as they came? "I don't know if it's that simple. I wish it was but it's not just me that would have to deal with this."

Pyrrha nodded her head in understanding but didn't seem to back down. "Then perhaps if you told me a little more about what the problem is I can help you with it."

Naruto scratched the back of his head absentmindedly as a light blush dusted across his cheeks. "It's… there's a girl that I like here at Beacon."

Naruto only blushed harder at the surprised look on Pyrrha's face. The blush intensified even more when a soft giggle reached his ears. He turned to glare at the now laughing girl who could only raise her hands up in defense as she suppressed her laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just didn't expect something like this to have you all out of sorts."

A huff of indignance escaped his throat and he crossed his arms and looked away. "Well excuse me for not being a master in romance. I didn't exactly learn a lot of great lessons from the people who trained me."

And that was putting it mildly. Between Kakashi and Jiraiya his male role models for romance were abysmal, something that Tsunade had told him quite a few times.

Pyrrha waved off his statement with a smile and another soft laugh. "Well, no one is perfect after all. So, who is it if you don't mind me asking?"

Naruto just let out a defeated sigh at the question, he was done beating around the bush, it took too much out of him and it had been a long day as it was. "It's fine. You deserve it anyway since you came all this way just to make sure I was ok. It's Weiss."

He spared a glance at Pyrrha and couldn't exactly make out the expression that was on her face.

"What is it with blonds liking Weiss…"

"What was that Pyrrha? I couldn't quite hear you."

"Oh nothing! I was just mumbling to myself, ignore me."

Naruto eyed the girl suspiciously as she laughed in a not so convincing manner. The laughter ceased though as Pyrrha gave Naruto a comforting look. "I have noticed that the two of you have been spending more time together than normal, though most of that has been training. Are you afraid that she will reject you? I am aware of the reputation that Weiss has here at Beacon on matters such as this."

Naruto huffed with indignance at that. If someone mentioned the title "Ice Queen" there wasn't a person in Beacon who didn't know who you were talking about. Though that mostly came from Weiss' continuous and very public cold shut downs of a certain blond knight. "Honestly no, I think that she may actually say yes if I told her. And that's the problem."

Now Pyrrha just looked confused and he couldn't even blame her. "I'm sorry but I don't see the problem then. You did say it was complicated but I'm failing to see why."

Naruto sighed as he rubbed his face, not at all used to this kind of territory. With Hinata it was easy. There was no guess work, she made is painfully clear how she felt when Pein attacked. And even with the war there weren't any other outside barriers that got between them. "The problem is what happens after. I'm not going to stay at Beacon forever, none of us are. I've been away from home for a long time. I need to go back there eventually, there are things that I haven't finished yet. And I can't have Weiss just waiting around for me while I'm gone. She'll have her own life to live. Her dream is to run her family's company and make it into something everyone on Remnant can look at with pride and respect. I wouldn't dream of tearing her away from that due to my own selfishness."

Pyrrha frowned at the blond's explanation but nodded in understanding nonetheless. "I'm impressed that you've thought this through so thoroughly. Please don't take any offense to this but I never pegged you as someone that plans things out so carefully."

He just laughed at the comment and scratched his head. "You're right, that isn't the kind of person I am usually. Back home I had a friend that was like that. He had backup plans for his backup plans. But when it comes to things involving the people I care about? Well I guess I try and make an exception."

Pyrrha hummed at his answer before shaking her head. "That's very thoughtful of you but I think by doing so you're hurting not only yourself but Weiss as well. We still have four years here at Beacon, there's a lot of time between then and now. If you two really do make things work between you for that long I couldn't imagine something as small as graduating separating you two. If you truly want to be together then you both will find a way to make it work. If you don't even try however, well, would that make either of you happy?"

It wouldn't. At least it wouldn't make him happy. He bit his lip while mulling over her words. Would it really hurt to try? Could he really just ignore the very obvious future problems in lieu of his own happiness? Was it really that simple? "But what if I-"

A slender gloved finger caught his lips mid motion. The smile that was on Pyrrha's face was soft and kind. He felt himself calm through the contact, his mind slowing down as he felt himself relax. "Do you think being with Weiss will make you happy?"

"But wha-"

He was silenced again and she forced her finger against his lips once more before removing it. "Do you think being with her will make you happy?"

He stood there for a few moments, his mind coming to a complete halt as an emotion he thought was long buried raised in his chest. His confusion and doubt left him as he gave the girl across from him a genuine smile. "Yes."

Her smile grew as she gave him an approving nod. "Then that is all that matters. Don't worry about the what ifs. Deal with those as they come along. Despite your apparent aversion to it, you do deserve to be happy."

Naruto didn't miss the more hidden meaning behind her words. She meant more than his hesitation with Weiss. His entire tenure at Beacon thus far had consisted of him trying to keep people at an arm's length. He wasn't anti-social per se, it was more to the effect that he never went out of his way to interact with anyone else at Beacon. Team RWBY had wormed their way through his subtle defenses through several means. Be it the situation with Blake, the pranking between Yang and himself or Ruby's love of weapons and helping him with his own. Then of course there was the training sessions with Weiss that had turned into so much more than he had ever expected.

Team JNPR by extension had been added to his list of 'friends' but in all honesty, they seemed to be more friends of friends than anything else. Not for their lack of trying however. Nora was excitable and could probably be friends with just about anyone. Ren seemed to go with whatever direction that Nora dragged him in, ever polite and patient. Pyrrha and Jaune were much the same in the sense that they always tried to be friendly whenever they were in the same room.

But did that necessarily make them friends? Looking at the girl in front of him he couldn't help but chuckle at his own foolishness. If they weren't friends would she have come to check on him at the drop of a hat like she had?

No, he supposed she wouldn't have. He had a feeling if he would have called anyone else in his group of friends at Beacon they would have done the same. It looked like despite his best attempts he still found himself making quite a few friends at Beacon whether he wanted them or not. Why did that thought not seem to bother him as much as it should have?

Naruto let out a small laugh and he shook his head and gave Pyrrha a smile. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I've been over thinking things too much. Not just with Weiss but with everyone at Beacon. Thanks Pyrrha, I'll take your advice. You helped me more than you know."

Pyrrha nodded at him happily with a brilliant smile on her face. "And that makes me happy. If you ever need to talk about anything all you have to do is find me. I would be happy to help with anything that I can."

"Again, thank you Pyrrha. I really appreciate it. Though I can't help but feel you're only helping me so Weiss won't be single anymore and a certain team leader of yours can finally take his eyes off her."

The way her face turned crimson and her eyes widened made Naruto laugh as the girl tried to stutter out a response. "I-wh-what would make you say that? That has nothing to do with it. Anyway I-I should probably go, it's rather late. Goodbye Naruto!"

He could only laugh as Pyrrha quickly made her way to the shop door, almost tripping over herself as she tried to escape. When she reached the door, she pushed it open but stopped in the doorway before looking over her shoulder. "Not that I think you'll need it but good luck with Weiss."

Naruto just gave her a smile as he watched the girl leave the shop. Yeah, he knew what he needed to do. Was he nervous? Undoubtedly. Did he doubt himself in what needed to be done? Not even in the slightest. Planning for the future wasn't his thing. He would deal with whatever came his way like he always did.

With a sigh, he moved to finish what little work was left to be done. Clean this, sweep the floor, refill the dust tubes. He could have finished the tasks in no time with his clones but decided against it. At the very least it would keep him busy until his shift ended.

The sound of a bell chiming snapped his head to the front of the store. He quickly made his way to the front of the shop and took in the sight that greeted him. A few men stood at the front counter. Many of the men looked nearly identical with the black suits, red ties and sun glasses. He also noticed that each of them were armed with a short sword.

His eyes however focused on the man in the middle of the group. He recognized the man of course. It was hard to miss Vale's most wanted criminal. His orange hair and immaculate suit and bowler hat were a dead giveaway. The man was idly twirling a cane in his hand. From what he had heard from the news and Ruby, the item was his weapon of choice.

Coming up to the more than likely thieves, Naruto tried putting on a smile. "Welcome to Dust Till Dawn, how can I help you all?"

He couldn't help his eye from twitching as Roman Torchwick tapped on his cigar, the burnt parts falling onto the floor he had just cleaned. "About time someone showed up. Kids these days just have no work ethic, we were waiting for an entire thirty seconds before you decided to mosey on over here. Now be a good sport and give us all the dust in the shop and we'll be on our way."

Naruto gave a short nod before gauging the distance between the four men. "Of course, but that would come to a hefty amount of Lien, I hope you brought exact change since I don't think we have enough in the till to break anything too big."

"Heh, you're funny kid, I'll give you that." Torchwick laughed before turning to his men. "Take the dust."

They didn't get the chance to as all five men were quickly blown off their feet and through the store window by a sudden gust of wind. Torchwick was the only one that managed to right himself in the air and rolled when his body impacted against the hard asphalt. Surveying the ground, the man couldn't help but grumble at the sight of broken glass and unconscious thugs. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me…"

Naruto quickly leapt through the window, both trench knives drawn and held in his respective hands. "Sorry about that, boss would be real upset if I let you rob the place. That's kinda what I was hired for."

" _They don't have aura?"_ Naruto thought as he noticed that none of the goons were making any motions to stand after being sent flying. At the very least none of them were dead, at least he didn't think so. They may have been criminals but that didn't mean he wanted to kill them.

Torchwick didn't seem to have that problem however as the man looked fairly unaffected by the entire ordeal. "What is it with kids these days? You all are just a bunch of freaks, one after another. First Red, now whiskers over here. I'm getting real tired of this."

If Torchwick had aura, then he wouldn't need to pull his punches as much as he would have to otherwise. With that thought in mind, Naruto charged the man. He heard the man grunt as he brought his cane up to block the slash that he aimed at the criminal's stomach.

Sparks flew as the two steel weapons clashed and grinded against one another. Pumping a little chakra into his muscles, Naruto pushed and felt the man slowly give ground. "You ain't half bad kid, way stronger than Red was. But you're still just a kid."

Roman fluidly moved Melodic Cudgel to the side allowing Naruto's trench knife to slide off the side. The man turned with the motion and brought his elbow around to strike at his temple. The attack didn't connect as Naruto moved his head out of the way before lashing out with another slash across the man's chest.

They continued to exchange blows in a flurry of slashes. The pace was faster than what he had normally dealt with when he sparred with anyone at Beacon. He was still more than capable of keeping up but it didn't seem to be bothering Roman in the slightest.

Twisting around a forward lunge, Naruto grabbed the cane's handle and pushed the offending weapon away before bringing his other hand around and smashing the bladed knuckle against Roman's nose. Aura was great for taking lethal attacks but it didn't stop all damage and he let a smirk come to his face at the satisfying sound of cartilage breaking.

Not letting up, Naruto spun on the spot and delivered a vicious kick to the man's unprotected sternum. The attack knocked the air from its victim's lungs and sent him tumbling across the street. Roman didn't stay down however as he quickly popped to his feet mid roll and glared angrily at the cheeky blond teenager across from him.

Bringing his free hand to his nose, Roman snapped the broken cartilage back into place before blowing out a dark wad of blood onto the pavement. "Alright. This stopped being fun about five minutes ago. I think it's time we wrap this up. Places to be and all that."

He raised Melodic Cudgel and threw a large red dust crystal into the air. Torchwick only took a moment to aim his shot before he released a violent explosive round from his cane. The reaction was instantaneous as fire erupted from the crystal and blinded everyone in the area with its searing light.

Naruto had to cover his eyes at the sight of the explosion. Heat washed over him but the fire quickly died down, the source of its fuel quickly being burned through. Unfortunately, when the smoke cleared Roman was nowhere to be found. Naruto cursed to himself for letting the man escape his sight. Torchwick wasn't some rank amateur that was for certain. The man fought like a trained fighter and knew how to take a hit.

If it wasn't obvious before it was clear as day now. Roman was a huntsman. Or at least he was at one point in his life. That fact did little to calm his growing frustration over the fact that he had let the man escape.

The deafening roar of a Bullhead's engines filled the night air and Naruto turned to see Torchwick jumping into the flying machine from a nearby rooftop.

"I can't say it was fun kid! Hopefully we'll never do this again!"

Naruto could barely hear what the criminal was shouting and the rest of it was drowned out by Bullhead's engines. Naruto paid no mind to the word's being shouted at him however. Instead he broke out in a sprint and ran up the side of the closest building he could find. Flipping one of his knives in the air before him, a chain erupted from his wrist and latched onto the circle at the base of the trench knife.

With a grunt of effort Naruto threw the blade as hard as he could at the metal machine. The throw found its mark as the knife dug deep into the steel plating. A quick tug let him know the connection was secure before he jumped off the side of the building and started drawing the chain links back into body.

He closed on the Bullhead at rapid speeds before he slammed into the side of it. He clung to the slick hull with his chakra before ripping his weapon free from its steel prison. Running up the side of the Bullhead, Naruto then leapt into the open passenger hatch.

"Man, you do not know when to give up do ya kid? Learn to take a hint."

Naruto blocked the overhead strike that Roman threw with his right trench knife, a cheeky grin on his face. "Heh, I've been told I'm a little stubborn before."

Naruto knocked the offending cane away with a backhanded strike and spun on the spot to deliver a chakra enhanced kick to the man's stomach. He flew backwards until he was forcefully stopped by the back of the Bullhead's pilot chair. He hacked up saliva as he gasped for breath. "A little help here!"

Naruto instantly brought up his guard as a pair of long silky legs came out from behind the pilot's chair. Those legs ended as the fabric of her form fitting red dress came into view. The dress seemed closer in design to something that Ren would wear than any of the other people he had met at Beacon. She had long, ashen black hair that reached down to cover her left eye. She had a fair complexion that complimented both her dress and her hair that would normally make her quite breath taking.

Naruto however wasn't focused on any of that. His eyes were firmly locked onto her fierce amber eyes. It was almost as if they were glowing with untamed primal power. The woman radiated an aura of confidence and power, not so unlike Ozpin had done from time to time. On instinct more than anything, Naruto coated his blades in wind chakra as he took a defensive stance. She was dangerous, of that there was no doubt.

"Tell me." The woman purred at him, her velvety voice belaying just how dangerous she was. "Why bother chasing a lowly thief like Roman this far? Surely he's not worth the effort."

Roman's indignant squawk went unanswered as he put more chakra into his trench knives. "He busted up where I work, again. I wasn't going to let him escape this time. He's going to pay for his crimes."

At the end of his sentence Naruto swung one of his blades at the woman, a thin pressurized blade of wind hurtling at the black-haired woman. She smirked at the action as one visible eye glowed and she held up a hand. The wind seemed to struggle against some unknown force before dispersing entirely, leaving nothing but a gentle breeze to hit the woman. "Well then I am afraid we have a problem. Despite his idiocy from time to time, I still have my uses for dear old Roman. I'll have to insist that he stay with me."

Naruto watched as the intricate gold patterns on her sleeves began to glow before her hands ignited with scorching flames. Not a moment later a large torrent of fire was sent his way. He cursed at his limited maneuvering space and opted to cover his body with his arms, the option to dodge robbed from him due to the small quarters of the Bullhead.

Flames engulfed him as he was lifted off his feet and pushed out of the Bullhead. Naruto spun in the air while pumping his immediate area full of wind chakra. A small shell quickly formed around him as his body hurtled towards a hard-unforgiving rooftop. The improvised wind shell took all the damage from his fall and dented the cement rooftop, leaving him suspended in the air for a moment before he released the technique and dropped a few inches harmlessly to the ground.

Naruto turned his eyes back to the Bullhead and watched as the raven-haired woman leapt from the flying machine and landed in a similar fashion to himself, a small pocket of air coalescing beneath her feet to rid herself of any impact from the fall.

"Cinder what are you doing!? Let's get out of here before any more of these freaky kids show up!"

Naruto had to agree with the flamboyant man's logic, if they were trying to escape, why follow him when they could have left? Though he had to suppress a laugh as the orange haired man was quickly cowed by a glare from the woman.

She turned her attention back to him and gave him what could only be described as a sultry look. "You have peaked my interest. You see, I am very familiar with dust and all of its applications for combat. I am also quite adept at spotting… unique abilities."

As she spoke, the intricate gold markings on her right sleeve began to glow again. This time however her left hand ignited into flames with nothing to indicate the activation like before. The only difference seemed to be that her left eye seemed to glow brighter in the dark night.

The woman was clearly trying to make a point, despite the actual meaning being lost on him. Still, he shut his mouth and opted to glare at her instead. He flipped his knives in his hand, letting the blades glide just above his hands as two chains latched out to grab onto them. He spun the short chains in a circle while adding wind chakra to the blades themselves, ready for anything the woman would throw at him.

He didn't have to wait long as the woman unleashed another torrent of flames from her hand. Using his spinning knives as an impromptu shield, Naruto held the weapon in front of him. The fire impacted harshly against the offending weapon but the flames quickly latched onto the wind shield and shot off harmlessly against the cement rooftop. Fire may have been the stronger element to wind but if one knew what they were doing they could use the wind to guide the flames to where they needed to go. Well, as long as the strength of the flames didn't completely overpower the wind.

She didn't relent in her assault with the first failed volley and followed up with another series of searing attacks. Despite the intensity of the attacks themselves, none reached him as he kept his wind defense up, alternating which knife took the attack with every volley.

For most it may have looked like a one-sided onslaught but it was anything but. Naruto knew a probing attack when he saw one. She was looking for something and he was more than content enough to let her look. He didn't need go all out here. Other than the fact that he didn't want to level a city block by truly letting loose, he also wasn't aware of what this woman could truly do.

While he was fairly confident that he could soundly beat this woman, it didn't pay to rush into something he didn't fully understand. He had done enough of that in his youth. He didn't have a protective forcefield to block a lethal attack if he was caught off guard by some strange ability. He doubted that this woman would hesitate to strike him down if given the opportunity.

That was the thing about the people of this world. Every single one of them had a very unique and strange ability. It was almost as if they all had a bloodline. The result being that if you weren't careful a fight may be over before you knew what they could do.

So, he would sit back and let her probe his defenses. He could handle anything she would throw directly at him and if she did pull out a strange ability out of nowhere then he would be ready. He didn't even have to beat her to come out of this victorious. The commotion they had caused must have garnered some attention by now. If he just stalled her then the proper authorities could take over.

The stream of attacks stopped for a moment and Naruto let his chained blades fall to his sides. He scanned the damage to the building and could only wince as large portion of it was either on fire or had been badly burned. Even the water storage unit behind him had been damaged, the water spilling onto the roof from the gash in the side of the metal container. He wasn't going to be held responsible for this, would he? He didn't have the kind of Lien to pay for this! He only had a part time job for crying out loud!

"My, my. You seem quite adept at using the wind as a defense. I'm quite impressed. But I wonder, is that all you can do?"

Naruto didn't like the glint in her eyes, nor the way they glowed with power as she raised both her hands in front of her. The air itself seemed to shimmer as if it was being boiled before a scorching stream of flames was unleashed from her hands.

Unlike the other attacks, there was nothing probing about this. She opted for a more destroy everything in my path kind of approach. He was fast enough to dodge the attack but stayed firmly rooted to his spot. Something like that would probably destroy the building behind him, killing anyone and everyone that was in the building.

Behind the flames, Naruto flashed through a series of hand seals. The water that had been pooling behind him came to life and sprang forth, rushing to form a steadfast wall between himself and the flames.

"Water Wall Jutsu!"

The sound of his voice was drowned out by the hissing of fire meeting water, neither element giving an inch as they fought for dominance. In the end nature won out as the fire died into nothing but steam, the wall of water quickly fading as the threat was extinguished.

Naruto expected anger or frustration on the face of the gorgeous woman he had been fighting. Instead he saw a devilish smile as her eyes danced with amusement. "Wind and water, neither through the usage of dust. Elemental semblances are a Lien a dozen. But having more than one element within a semblance? That is an impossibility. Tell me, where do you draw this power from?"

Naruto couldn't help but swallow the lump that had grown in his throat. He should have known better than to use too many abilities at once. His excuse at Beacon for having so many different abilities was flimsy at best and only held ground due to his friends' trust in him and the fact that the professors seemed to humor his excuses. He knew that the Headmaster didn't believe him when it came to his unique usage of Aura. Why the man humored him he didn't know but he wasn't going to push his luck on that front.

This woman on the other hand was a different story. She would never buy his weak explanation. She was smart, her eyes calculating as she no doubt went through several scenarios in her mind. He didn't know enough about this world to come up with a better excuse. So in lieu of a reason, he simply shut his mouth.

He was beginning to hate that damnedable smirk that woman gave him as her velvety voice filled his ears. "There's no need to be shy. I merely wish to know your favorite story." Almost beckoned by her words, her left eye glowed brightly. "I am quite partial to the story of the seasons myself. So, what is your favorite fairy tale?"

Silence permeated the air, neither combatant moving as Cinder waited for her answer. Time ticked away as the smile on her inviting lips slipped into a frown. "No? Perhaps you need a little more coaxing then."

Naruto watched as Cinder's eyes glowed with power and wind and fire gathered in her two hands. She let the volatile elements fuse before letting the torrent of destructive power go.

The blistering attack barreled down upon him and with a twirl of his hands, the chains disconnected from his knives and he grabbed onto the handles. The blades came to life as his own wind imbued the metal. Channeling his chakra into his knives, the red fire dust he had stored in their hidden chambers ignited. Fire washed over wind and burned brightly on the tips of his weapons. If he couldn't guide the attack harmlessly away, then he would just have to overpower it.

Before he could lunge forward to meet the attack head on a figure jumped in between himself and the attack. He couldn't quite make out the shape due to the blinding bright stream of fire that clashed against his protector's form. The figure held strong however and nearly as soon as the attack had formed it disappeared.

With the flames gone Naruto could clearly see who had interfered. He looked on with surprise as there was only red and bronze in his vision. A long red pony tail flowed in the wind, her body tense and on guard as she gave her undivided attention towards the fiery woman across from them.

"Pyrrha?"

The girl in question only glanced back for a moment, Naruto barely catching the harden look in her emerald eyes. True to her training, she refused to let down her guard in front of her opponent. She took off a second later, closing the distance between her opponent in a matter of moments.

Her short sword extended into a spear as she made her lunge at the amber eyed woman. With a tilt of her head, Cinder easily avoided the stab and batted the offending weapon away before the glass imbedded in her clothes flared to life, forming two twin black curved blades in her hands.

Cinder had little time to counter attack as Pyrrha moved to engage her again. Pyrrha slammed her shield into Cinder's body and spun, bringing her transformed sword across Cinder's chest. The blow never landed as Cinder's own blade intercepted the attack, knocking the champion away with the force of the blow.

Pyrrha rolled with the attack, her metal grieves scrapping across the cement rooftop before she landed in a crouch, her shield brought to bear in front of her with Miló resting on the crock of the shield in its rifle form. She rattled off several shots in quick succession only for the bullets to explode harmlessly in front of Cinder's out stretched hand.

"Pyrrha move!"

The girl took the warning without a second thought and quickly backflipped away from her spot. Not a second later her previous spot erupted in an explosion of fire and cement. She came to a stop next to Naruto; her breath was slightly labored but she didn't look any worse for wear. Naruto spared her a glance before focusing back on Cinder. The woman looked more miffed than anything else as her cold eyes glared at the red headed girl next to him.

"What are you doing here Pyrrha? I thought you went back to Vale already?"

Pyrrha kept Miló and Akoúo̱ at the ready but spared Naruto a look. "I was waiting for a bullhead to take me back to the school when I saw the smoke. I was worried so I came to make sure everything was alright."

Naruto couldn't help the smile that formed on his face as he let out a small chuckle. With how Pyrrha acted she reminded him of a doting mother hen. "You know Pyrrha, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. You didn't have to come all the way back here to check on me, again."

Pyrrha smiled too and responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "I know but I wanted to. That's what friends do after all."

"You know, it's very rude to interrupt a couples' evening. Did your mother not teach you proper manners?"

Naruto cursed to himself as he quickly grabbed Pyrrha and leapt to the side, only barely avoiding a hail of bullets from the mounted guns on the bullhead that was still waiting nearby.

"I've seen this show before and I'm not a fan of the ending! Let's get out of here before more of them show up!"

Naruto easily heard Roman shouting over the engines of the bullhead and watched as a step ladder descended for the woman in red to grab a hold of. She seemed to hesitate as she turned her smoldering eyes his way. Their eyes met and her scowl turned into a soft smile as she reached for the ladder. "Farewell my blond friend. I do hope we can meet again. Your tale is most interesting to me."

He glared at the fleeing flying machine, taking with it one of the most dangerous people he had met on Remnant. He could have given chase, pursued them both and brought them in. Looking at the recovering Pyrrha he thought better of it and let out a sigh as he sheathed his weapons. With his luck, he would run into her again sooner rather than later. He could deal with her then if need be.

"Naruto, who was that?"

"I have no idea…"

 **/-/**

"I'm telling you these kids just keep getting weirder. Who knows what the next one will do. Maybe they'll shoot out lasers that can cut bullheads in half. It wouldn't even surprise me at this point!"

Cinder tuned out the ranting thief in favor of her own thoughts. Her mind racing with possibilities as she replayed the fight with that blond boy. The boy projected an aura of strength so much different than any other huntsman she had ever encountered. It was as if he fought using something other than aura, something that should have been impossible.

A smirk came to her lips as she watched her hand glow brightly before she snuffed it out. She was well acquainted with the impossible. His command over the wind itself was immaculate, his raw strength may even surpass her own and he wasn't hot headed enough to show his true strength at the first sign of adversity.

The boy was an enigma, a mystery for her to solve. One that could not be ignored either. He was friendly with the Nikos girl, which would mean that he was one of Ozpin's children. If Ozpin had pawns such as that boy at his disposal, then she would need to reevaluate her plans. His strength was a cause for concern, even for her.

That was fine however. She was never one to try and fully overpower her opponents. No, all she needed to do was take away what power her opponents held. To do that she needed to understand him, for that she needed information. Luckily for her, despite his failings in other areas, Roman specialized in acquiring information.

A snap of her fingers brought Roman down from his ranting, his attention purely focused on her, as it should be. She moved her legs over each, the action causing her short dress to flutter temptingly. She didn't miss the way his eyes strayed from face to admire her before snapping back. Sometimes it was all too easy. "Roman my dear, I have a new task for you."

The way he groaned and took a long puff on his cigar did little to soothe her annoyance at his cavalier attitude. "If you haven't noticed I'm a little busy robbing the entire city of Vale. Something like that doesn't give me a lot of free time!"

The glare she leveled on the most notorious man in Vale was scathing and the man quickly cowed to her will. "But for you beautiful, I'll make the time. What's the job?"

"It's nothing a man of your skills should have any difficulty with." She purred. "I simply need some information."

A grunt of acknowledgment came from Roman as he dropped his cigar and crushed it against the metal floor. "About the new kid, right? He was pretty weird. Persistent too."

"Precisely. I want his name, his background, his semblance, any of his friends' names. Even his favorite color if you think it's important. I want to know everything there is about our blond friend."

Cinder rose from her velvet couch in Roman's base and made her way to the exit. Roman would do as she asked. He may be a pawn but he was no fool, he knew the consequences of not doing as she demanded. She would have her information and she would soon know all of that boy's secrets, and more importantly, the source of his unique power. _"Hide them as much as you want, I will learn your secrets."_

 **/-/**

Yang let out a tired sigh as she stroked her sister's hair while sitting on her bed. Despite being tired, Yang couldn't help but smile as she watched Ruby sleep. It reminded her of when they were kids. Of the late nights she would stay awake to make sure Ruby could sleep soundly.

It was something that she had done hundreds of times, so much so that it felt to be almost second nature to her. Taking care of Ruby in place of her father, who had become more of a burden than anything else growing up.

Did she hold it against her father that she had to all but give up her childhood to make sure Ruby could have one? She would be lying if she said she didn't. She didn't hate him though, she understood why everything happened the way it did. She just wished that it hadn't, for more reasons than was worth counting.

Ruby stirred on her lap and Yang adjusted the younger girl slightly, laying her on her pillow and covering her with a blanket. Tai had dropped her off a few hours ago, completely passed out and cheeks stained with tears.

It wasn't a completely uncommon sight. Summer's death had affected all of them differently. Her father completely shut down, both inside and out. Ruby instead internalized and bottled up the pain, only letting it out when she would visit Summer's grave. And herself? Well she just had to push past it and take care of Ruby, at least until her father finally pulled himself together.

Yang had carried Ruby home in a similar state more than enough times to know that she had just visited Summer's grave. She had been getting a lot better about it lately though. The last time Yang had taken Ruby she had barely cried at all. Unfortunately, Ruby's sleep suffered for the strong front she would put up. Most nights were restless and fueled with night terrors. Yang would know, she would be up with her sister all night when it would happen.

Tonight was different however, the young girl didn't so much as whimper as she slumbered peacefully. It was why Yang couldn't help herself from smiling. Tai had mentioned that Ruby had a guest earlier. Yang didn't know why or how Naruto had found Ruby but looking at her peaceful face as she slept, Yang realized she didn't really care.

Whatever Naruto had said or done had done more for Ruby than he probably realized. She would have to thank him for whatever it was that he did. She could even forgive him for dying her hair, heh, well, almost forgive him for that.

The click of their dorm room door followed by the soft sound of heels connecting with the floor made Yang look up to see her partner come into the room. They shared a look and Yang carefully crawled off Ruby's bunk bed, making her way over to Blake's bed where said girl was already crawling into.

Yang didn't miss the scowl on her teammates face, even when the girl picked up her favorite book. Someone was in a foul mood. With the bluntness that she was well known for, Yang promptly plopped herself unceremoniously on Blake's bed, knocking the girl off balance and earning her a glower of a look.

"What's up Blakey? Something bothering you?"

Amber eyes glared at her briefly before it went back to the book in the raven-haired girl's hands. Her face going back to her perpetual neutral position. "And who says I'm in a bad mood?"

A very articulate snort came out of Yang's mouth in response. "Right, you're not in a bad mood just like Ruby doesn't have a cookie problem. Come on partner, what's up?"

Blake gave Yang a flat look before sighing to herself and closing her book. It was clear to the girl she wasn't going to be getting any reading done. "It's nothing. I just have some stuff on my mind."

"Yeah, I got that." Yang drawled out as she rolled her eyes. "Let's try again, what's up?"

Blake released another sigh while shaking her head uselessly. "There's really nothing to talk about Yang. I just think a friend is going to make a stupid mistake."

Yang rolled over on her stomach as she hummed in understanding. "You don't think Weiss and Naruto should date?"

Blake's eyes bounced across the room as she bit her lower lip but didn't say anything. "Heh, knew it. You try to act all quiet and mysterious but sometimes you're the easiest person to read." The glower that Blake sent her way did little to deter her. "Well, I know that Weiss is out looking for him. If you're going to make a big dramatic confession you better get going."

Yang didn't even bother to dodge the swipe that came her way courtesy of the raven-haired huntress in training next to her. "I thought you would've learned from the last time, we aren't like that. We're just friends."

Yang smiled knowingly at her partner, clearly not buying Blake's response. "Yeah, just like Ren and Nora."

With a huff, Blake rolled over on the bed and rested her head on her pillow. "You're delusional."

Yang just shrugged in response as she sat up. "Ok fine, I'll play along. You definitely aren't crushing on Naruto. You're just really, really good friends." A growl escaped Blake's pillow which only cause Yang to smile wider at the girl. "So, then why are you against them getting together if it's not because you like him?"

Yang watched as Blake seemed to wrestle with her own reasons. It took a few minutes but Yang was fine with waiting. "It's… for one thing they barely know each other. It's been what? Six weeks? Two months at the most? That's way too early for them to be jumping into something like that."

"Pfft, that's dumb. Back at Signal I knew people who would start dating after only a couple of days, not weeks. Dating in the real world is a little different from that book that you have hidden in your pillow case. Truth be told I don't think anything they do in that book is what it's like in real life. If it is, well damn, Dad definitely didn't go over any of _those_ things when he gave me the talk."

Blake's face heated up as Yang waggled her eyebrows at her partner. It didn't last however as a pillow violently crashed into her face, knocking her onto her back. Yang only laughed as she pried the pillow off before sitting back up. "Come on, we both know that isn't the problem. What's the problem Blake?"

The change in her tone was enough for Blake's shoulders to sag and a sigh to escape the girl. "Fine, you want to know the real reason? I'm afraid she's going to hurt him. Naruto hasn't exactly had a great life up until now and he doesn't need to get hurt by someone he cares about due to something he had no control over at birth."

"But why would Weiss hurt him if she likes him?"

Black and yellow hair whipped to the side as both Blake and Yang turned to the third voice in the room. Sitting up on her bed but still groggy, Ruby looked at her teammates with confusion. Yang winced as she looked at her little sister; she didn't mean to wake her up. Though it wasn't like she could do anything about that now. She turned her attention back to Blake in time to see the apprehensive look on her partner's face.

She fully understood why of course. Weiss was Ruby's partner and despite the heiress' claims, the two of them were rather close. Ruby tended to overlook the negative aspects of her partner and her familiar times. Though that could just be the girl's ignorance on the matter.

Despite how she acted, Yang wasn't so innocent that she didn't know some of the baggage that came with Weiss' family name, she just didn't care about those things.

Blake on the other hand did. Even more so when it involved Naruto and she had a sneaking suspicion as to why. "Is it because Naruto's a Faunus?"

Panic spread across Blake's face while Ruby merely tilted her head in confusion. "Naruto's a faunus?"

Instead of answering her team leader, Blake opted to stare a Yang before muttering a question of her own. "Y-you know? How?"

Yang heard the slight tremble in Blake's voice but didn't comment on it. She merely shrugged in response as she responded. "To be honest I didn't know for sure until you confirmed it. But I was starting to think he was. You remember last month when I had to stay behind with him in Oobleck's class?"

The glare Blake sent her let her know that her partner did indeed remember. "Well we had to talk about the White Fang, the struggle of faunus in general and stuff like that. The way he talked about some of that stuff, the emotion behind it… it seemed like he was talking more from experiencing than anything he might have read about in a book. He just sounded so… resigned to it all."

Yang shivered slightly remembering the look in his eyes when he was talking about the struggles of being a faunus. Those normally bright blue eyes looked so dead. She hated the way he looked back then.

"And then there was how he reacted to Cardin bullying Velvet. That was way over the top for someone that just hates bullies. That seemed far more personal than anything else. Ever since then I figured he was a faunus, or at least part faunus."

Ruby looked towards her sister and then to Blake, her head tilted cutely to the side as she absorbed the information. "So, he is a faunus? But he doesn't have any animal parts unless you count the scars on his face, they do kind of look like whiskers."

Yang noted how Blake recoiled at the mention of Naruto's whiskers. It didn't last however as she quickly schooled her features before shaking her head. "It's a little complicated. He hides his animal features that he was born with. He doesn't want to be defined by what he is. He wants people to judge him based on his actions and who he is as a person, not what he is."

"But why? What's the big deal with being a faunus? Why would he want to hide it? It's not like being a faunus makes you any different from anyone else."

Blake gave her team leader a sad smile while her hand absentmindedly rubbed the front cover of her book. "Not everyone is as open minded as you and Yang. It's great that you don't think of anything when you see an animal appendage but the rest of the world isn't so kind. They see a tail or animal ears and some people will automatically form an opinion of you, rarely a good one." Blake closed her eyes as she let out a small sigh. "Sometimes it's just easier to hide what you are than deal with the hate."

Blake's somber tone made Yang bite her lip to stop the question that was on the tip of her tongue. Her suspicions extended to more than just Naruto. The two of them were so close and for seemingly no reason. She knew that the two of them hadn't known each other before Beacon and Blake was actually hostile towards Naruto for a while before her prank.

She knew that Blake never had a crush on Naruto. The entire reason she played that prank to begin with was to just mess with her partner. Naruto was just the target due to Blake's odd behavior whenever he was brought up. Then after that they were suddenly friends and good ones at that? It didn't make any sense. Not unless they found out they had something in common, something they could relate to one another with.

In terms of how faunus were treated, Blake spoke in almost the exact resigned way that Naruto did. It was eerily similar, in a way that meant they had the same perspective from the same experiences…

But she wouldn't push her partner into telling them everything about herself. If-when she felt like she could trust them with that secret, then her team would accept her with open arms. Well, Ruby and herself would no doubt, Weiss might be a different story.

"I guess I never realized that it was still so bad to be a faunus. Patch is kind of a small town and we don't have many faunus that live there so I guess I never noticed." Ruby's frown lifted as she looked up at Blake. "You two must be really close for Naruto to share all of this with you."

The tiniest amounts of red dusted across Blake's face with how innocently Ruby had said that. Despite herself though she smiled and gave a small nod. "I suppose we are and I'm glad that he's opened up enough to tell me about his past and what he's been through. That's why I don't think he should date Weiss. I don't hate her or anything like that but her family isn't exactly known for their positive views on faunus."

Ruby frowned as she lowered her head in thought. She seemed to struggle with whatever it was before she turned her head back to Blake. "But aren't you doing what all of those other people are doing to him just for being a faunus? Weiss isn't like her family. I've never seen her be mean to any faunus here at Beacon, at least not any more than Weiss being Weiss."

Blake opened her mouth to say something before she shut it with an audible click of her teeth. She looked at Ruby, the girl's eyes filled with confidence in what she was saying. After a few more moments Blake sighed before a strained smile came to her lips. "I guess you're right. Naruto said the same thing when I talked to him about it. I guess I'll have to give her the benefit of the doubt."

Yang couldn't help the smile on her face as she beamed at her sister's words. She couldn't be prouder of her if she wanted to. That smile quickly morphed into a devilish smirk as she redirected her attention back to her partner. "Now that that's decided we can focus on the real reason you don't want them to date. How are you going to confess to him? I personally like the dramatic approach."

She didn't even see the pillow that hit her before her world went black.

 _/-/_

Naruto let out a tired groan as he swiped his scroll against the lock on his dorm's door. He couldn't have been happier that his day was finally over. Between his argument with Blake, dealing with Ruby and having to fight off multiple criminals, he was completely spent. All he wanted to do was have a quick shower and collapse on his bed.

As he swung the door open he noticed something a little off about his room. Everything was exactly as he left it, no, what was different was the addition of something. That something just so happened to be Weiss, looking as prim and proper and as beautiful as she always was. He felt his cheeks heat up slightly as the last thought rolled through his mind.

She regarded him from his bed with an even expression, one leg crossed over the other with her hands placed in her lap. Her eyes focused on him, just a hint of anger simmered below an otherwise neutral gaze. He slowly closed the door behind him, the soft click seemingly echoing in the silent room. "Hey…" He tried weakly.

Her complete lack of a response was enough to have him follow up. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

Inwardly he cursed himself for his stutter. Put him in a battlefield with the most dangerous people in the world and he wouldn't miss a beat but put him in a somewhat awkward situation and he would stumble and trip all over himself.

Judging by the way she scoffed as she flipped her pony tail Weiss was none too pleased with his question. "Waiting for you, obviously."

He let out an awkward laugh as he rubbed the back of his head, once more silently cursing how stupid he must have sounded. "Right, of course." He paused for a moment as his brain finally caught up to the present moment. "Wait, how exactly did you get in my room again?"

Her composed face dropped as her eyes widened at the question. She let out a soft cough while her head turned to the side, her face turning red as she refused to meet his gaze. "The door was slightly open when I arrived so I let myself in. Really, you should be more careful. Any vagabond could have just walked in and taken anything, not that you have much here to begin with…"

His raised eyebrow was all he needed to do to let the girl know he didn't buy her answer. Still, she refused to recant the story, steadfast in her answer. With a chuckle, he just shook his head in exasperation. "Of course, it was. I'll be sure to be more careful in the future."

Weiss seemed to accept the answer for what it was and rose from her place on his bed, his gaze following her long milky legs as they sashayed towards him. She moved with a grace that could only be achieved through a lifetime of refinement. She stopped in front of him, her finger poking roughly against his chest as she sent him a scowl. "You're late coming home as well. I thought you may have been trying to avoid me again."

The nervous laugh he let go did little to quell her anger, if anything it intensified it as she deepened her glare. "Sorry about that. For both actually. I didn't mean to make you upset with me over that. Something happened at work that kinda held me up."

His excuse did nothing to relieve the stare she was giving him. That was until her nose crinkled cutely, he could only imagine how poorly he smelled after tonight's events. "You smell like soot."

And just like that her anger seemed to vanish as her eyes took on a more critical element. She scanned him up on down, her eyes going over every little nick and cut, almost like she was cataloging them in her mind. He had to suppress a shiver that threatened to run down his spine as he felt her delicate finger skirt across his exposed skin. "You're covered in cuts and your clothes are singed. What happened?"

If her tone of voice didn't belay her concern, one look into her pale blue eyes told him all he needed to know. He didn't want to worry her, especially when there was nothing to worry about. "Roman Torchwick tried to rob the dust shop I work at. I fought him off rather easily but he had a partner. She was strong, way stronger than Torchwick was. They weren't even in the same league. She _really_ liked fire."

Weiss' hand danced across his torso before it landed on his chest, her eyes locking with his. "Are you all right?"

He couldn't help but smile at the girl in front of him. Her concern washed over him and made him warm, content. He now had zero doubt about what he wanted to do, what he needed to do. He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "I am now."

He didn't miss the full-on blush that spread across her face nor did he miss the way she tried to look anywhere but at him. He never realized just how cute she could be when she was flustered.

But more importantly than any of that, he noticed how she didn't fight his grip in the slightest. They stood together, bodies close but not quite touching. The silence between them was comfortable, not deafening as it once might have been. It was Weiss though who broke the silence. "Naruto…"

"I'm sorry."

Her pale eyes widened in surprise at his interruption. She tried to process the words but only looked back at him in confusion. "You're sorry?"

He chuckled lightly at her surprise. Perhaps that wasn't the best way to explain himself. "I am. For yesterday. I don't know what came over me. I just…acted. I didn't think at all."

He couldn't quite place the emotion that ran across her face but her voice was gentle and soft, almost soothing. "You did catch me off guard. Truth be told, I was not expecting you to kiss me the way you did." She paused, either to let her words sink in or to gather herself he didn't know. "And what about now that you've had some time to think about it? Do you regret what happened?"

"To be honest, I've been thinking non-stop about what happened and I still don't know what I think."

The way her face fell squeezed his heart and hurt more than he expected it to. He hated how she looked. Taking one of his hands off her hip, he brought it to her chin and shifted her head to look into his eyes. "But I know how I feel. I've never been good at thinking. I always preferred to let my actions speak for me."

She scoffed slightly at his words with a teasing smile on her face. "I've known you for over two months now and that particular aspect of yourself has become painfully apparent to me."

He laughed, a genuine laugh that seemed to make her smile as well. "I might not know how to say it but I can show you instead."

He didn't wait for her response as he titled her head up ever so slightly, his own head leaning forwards. His eyes closed with the feeling of his lips pressing against hers.

He didn't feel her shock or surprise, nor any resistance to his actions. Instead he felt her push back slightly, her body pushing up against his in an attempt to deepen the kiss. He was happy to oblige as he wrapped his arms fully around her lower back and pulled her into him. She welcomed the motion and tried her best to form her body against his.

Their lips parted, the need for air finally outweighing their desire as the two panted for oxygen. With one last deep breath, Naruto lifted her chin once more and stared into her half-lidded eyes. "That's how I feel."

Her eyes fluttered a few times before she could focus them back on his. It was impossible to miss the way they sparkled nor could he miss the unmistakable smile that graced her lips. "I see. You expressed yourself very clearly, for someone such as yourself that is."

Naruto took the comment with a smile. There was no malice in the words, if anything they were filled with affection. "And what about you? How do you feel?"

Her smile turned into a small smirk as she regarded him. Instead of answering, she leaned back into him and pressed her lips back onto his.

* * *

 **Alright so there's another chapter for all of you. Truth be told this chapter was actually done a long time ago but I wanted to wait to upload this chapter until after my new story was published for that sweet self-promotion. So, if you're at all interested in a purely RWBY story then head on over and check out The Last of His Name. I have yet to read a story in the RWBY section that is like the one I have planned so it should be a fun ride.**

 **Like always, leave a review if you would be so kind, what you liked, things I can improve on and everything else in between. Until next time!**


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